France will air-drop aid into Gaza in coming days, a diplomatic source said on Tuesday, as UN-backed experts warned the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian territory was slipping into famine. 

"France will carry out air drops in the coming days to meet the most essential and urgent needs of the civilian population in Gaza," the source said, adding the "greatest care" would be taken to protect Gazans during the operations.

But the airborne operations were not intended as substitutes for more efficient deliveries by road, the source added, urging "the immediate opening by Israel of land crossing points".

"France is also working on deliveries by land, by far the most effective solution to enable the massive and unhindered delivery of humanitarian goods that the population desperately needs," the source said.

Aid groups have warned that "mass starvation" is spreading among the territory's more than two million residents.