Israel-Gaza updates: Harris to meet with Israeli war Cabinet member on Monday

Hours after the U.S. Department of Defense conducted its first combined humanitarian assistance airdrop in Gaza with the Royal Jordanian Air Force, senior administration officials asserted this would be part of a sustained effort to scale up life-saving aid into Gaza and confirmed significant progress on a six-week hostage ceasefire deal currently in the hands of Hamas.

Senior administration officials said they are exploring every channel possible to get assistance into Gaza and that the Department of Defense is currently planning additional drops. However, they say their biggest obstacle is opening more avenues to get aid into Gaza, including a martine route that would deliver assistance directly by sea.

"We're looking at the land routes, we're looking at the sea route, we're looking at the air route, to really ensure that we're exploring every opportunity to get assistance in," officials said Saturday.

Officials confirmed this was the first U.S. airdrop conducted in Gaza since the war began and that U.S. and Jordanian C-130 aircraft were operated jointly out of Jordan to distribute aid.

Administration officials suggested the removal of police from the U.N. and other humanitarian convoys has exacerbated the lawlessness already prevalent in the region as gangs allegedly take and resell aid. Officials said the way to address this problem is by flooding the market with aid to discourage the commercialization of assistance.

Officials said a ceasefire is essential for the distribution of life-saving aid throughout Gaza. A deal is on the table and in the hands of Hamas, according to officials.

Senior administration officials told reporters there would be a six-week ceasefire as soon as today if Hamas agreed to release a defined category of vulnerable hostages, which include the sick, elderly, and women.

When asked about the specifics of these progressions towards a ceasefire hostage deal, admin officials said they'd worked hard with the Israelis to develop a framework which the admin believes is now "in the zone of a compromise amongst all the positions that had been on the table," after several meeting in Israel last week.

Admin officials hope to have this deal in place by Ramadan, confirming significant progress has been made over the last few weeks.

"The onus right now is on Hamas, their talks still underway," a senior admin official said Saturday.

They continued, "There has been significant progress over the last few weeks. But like all things, until the deal is actually done, It's not done. The Israelis have basically signed on to the elements of the arrangement. And right now, the ball is in the court of Hamas, and we are continuing to push this as hard as we possibly can."

-ABC News' Noah Minnie

The U.S. Central Command provided more details on the food aid delivered into Gaza Saturday in a combined effort with the Royal Jordanian Air Force.

The U.S. C-130s dropped over 38,000 meals along the coastline of Gaza, "allowing for civilian access to the critical aid,” according to a statement.

"The DoD humanitarian airdrops contributes to ongoing U.S. government efforts to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance to the people in Gaza," read the statement.

CENTCOM said this was the first aid drop into Gaza by the U.S. but plans are being made for potential "follow-on airborne aid delivery missions."

"These airdrops are part of a sustained effort to get more aid into Gaza, including by expanding the flow of aid through land corridors and routes," the statement said.

-ABC News' Anne Flaherty

The U.S. military has conducted food drops in Gaza authorized by President Joe Biden, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the operation.

The military is reported to have used three C-130 cargo planes from U.S. Air Forces Central Command to drop 66 parachute-strapped bundles containing about 38,000 meals over Gaza around 8 a.m. ET.

The air drop was expected to be the first of many the military planned to conduct. It came just days after many Palestinians were killed after trying to pull goods from an aid convoy.

-ABC News' Anne Flaherty

President Joe Biden on Friday said the U.S. would carry out airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza in the coming days.

"We need to do more, and the United States will do more,” Biden said. "In the coming days we’re going to join with our friends in Jordan and others in providing airdrops of additional food and supplies."

He said the U.S. is also looking at the possibility of a marine corridor to deliver "large amounts of humanitarian assistance," in addition to expanding land deliveries.

"We're gonna insist that Israel facilitate more trucks and more routes to get more and more people the help they need," Biden said.

"Innocent lives are on the line, and children's lives on the line," he said.

Biden called Thursday's killing of over 100 civilians waiting for aid "tragic and alarming," adding that the "loss of life is heartbreaking."

White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said the airdrops will not be a "one and done" operation and will be the start of a "sustained effort" over the coming weeks.

"With each one, I think we'll learn more and we'll get better at them," Kirby said.

Kirby explained that it will be "extremely difficult" to conduct airdrops in a densely populated environment like Gaza.

"The biggest risk is making sure that nobody gets hurt on the ground. And so, you got to locate out areas to drop that you know will be safe for people so that they don't become victims of the drop itself," he said.

Kirby also noted that the airdrops are "not a replacement for moving things in by ground."

-ABC News' Justin Gomez