<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">The United States and Europe are seeking to open a sea route that would bring humanitarian aid into Gaza, as alarm grows over the spread of hunger among the besieged territory's 2.3 million people.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>However, aid officials say deliveries by ships or recent airdrops are far more costly and inefficient than sending trucks by land. And on Friday, five people in Gaza were killed and several others injured when airdrops malfunctioned and hit people and landed on homes, Palestinian officials said.</div><div><br></div><div>After more than five months of Israel's blistering military campaign, much of Gaza is in ruins. The U.N. says a quarter of the population faces starvation. Many of the estimated 300,000 people still living in northern Gaza have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive.</div><div><br></div><div>Efforts to reach a cease-fire before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan appear stalled. Israeli strikes killed 78 people and wounded 104 across the territory in the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Friday.</div><div><br></div><div>That brings the number of Palestinians killed to more than 30,800, according to the Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures but says women and children make up around two-thirds of all casualties.</div><div><br></div><div>Israel launched its offensive after Hamas-led militants stormed across the border on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Over 100 hostages were released during a temporary cease-fire in November in exchange for 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. - AP</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd/fas</div>