By Phil Stewart, Jonathan Landay and Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -During President Joe Biden's administration, the U.S. military carried out waves of air drops of food into Gaza, delivering some 1,220 tons of assistance.

But the option hasn't been seriously considered by Donald Trump's administration, U.S. officials and other sources say, even as he voices concern over starvation in Gaza amid Israel's nearly two-year-old military campaign against Hamas.

One source said it is seen as an unrealistic option because airdrops would not come close to meeting the needs of 2.1 million Palestinians.

This comes even as close U.S. allies including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Britain have carried out air drops of assistance to Gaza.

Humanitarian aid groups have long been critical of air drops of aid, calling them more symbolic than truly effective when the scale of the need in Gaza requires open land routes for large amounts of aid to enter the enclave.

The heavy packages could also present a danger to civilians on the ground rushing toward the parachuting aid.

"It just hasn't been part of the discussions," said........

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