Israel's siege on Gaza is blocking 83 percent of food aid required by the enclave's population — an increase from 34 percent in 2023, according to new data cited in a joint statement by 15 NGOs on Monday.
The NGOs include the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Islamic Relief and Save the Children.
The data, analysed by groups working in Gaza, found that residents had gone from an average of two meals a day to eating once every other day.
The groups estimate that around 50,000 children between the ages of six months and five years require malnutrition treatment before the end of the year.
An average of 69 aid trucks entered Gaza per day in August — a record low — compared to 500 a day prior to the war, the statement said.
"The situation was intolerable long before last October’s escalation and is beyond catastrophic now. Over 11 months, we have reached shocking levels of conflict, displacement, disease and hunger," said CARE International's Country Director in the West Bank and Gaza Jolien Veldwijik.
"Yet, aid is still not getting in, and humanitarian workers are risking their lives to do their jobs while attacks and violations of international law intensify. Aid, which is urgently required for 2.2 million people at risk of dying in the coming weeks and months, should never be politicised. We demand an immediate and sustained ceasefire, and the free flow of humanitarian aid into and throughout Gaza."
The analysis said that 65 percent of required insulin supplies and 50 percent of blood needed were not available.
Availability of hygiene items has also significantly dropped, falling to 15 percent of the supply available in September 2023.
With strikes and raids on hospitals across Gaza, the enclave's remaining hospital beds number around 1,500, compared to 3,500 in 2023 — a number the report says was already insufficient.
The statement added that the number of tents that have entered Gaza since May shelter 25,000 people, despite 1.87 million people being in need of and 60 percent of homes having been destroyed.
Separately, the UN's Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza on Monday warned that “not much else can be improved” until a ceasefire is implemented.
“We're not meeting the needs, let alone creating prospects and hope for the civilians in Gaza,” Sigrid Kaag said, describing Gaza as “the most unsafe place in the world to work.”