The latest breakdown of caloric intake by Oxfam International means that Palestinians in northern Gaza are consuming less than 12 percent of the recommended daily 2,100 calories needed.

Oxfam also found that the total food deliveries allowed into Gaza for the entire 2.2 million population amounted to an average of just 41 percent of the daily calories needed per person.

“Israel is making deliberate choices to starve civilians. Imagine what it is like, not only to be trying to survive on 245 calories day in, day out, but also having to watch your children or elderly relatives do the same,” said Amitabh Behar, Oxfam’s executive director.

Oxfam said that in order stave off famine, an “absolute minimum” of 221 trucks of food alone were needed every day in the enclave. Currently, Israel is allowing just 105 food trucks on average to enter Gaza, Oxfam added.

Tel Aviv ordered a total siege of Gaza after the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on southern Israel, but has denied allegations it is blocking aid, blaming it on aid organisations’ inability to deliver supplies and “lawlessness”.

Aid organisations widely dispute that claim. Israel’s targeting of aid workers was underlined on Tuesday after three Israeli strikes killed seven workers from the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK). The organisation said the strike took place despite coordination with the Israeli military about its movements. WCK’s founder and celebrity chef Jose Andres said Israel “systematically” targeted aid workers. Israel called the strike a “grave mistake”.

Israel has also announced it will no longer work with Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinians, and the largest aid organisation in Gaza distributing food before the war. It has now blocked their access to the besieged enclave.

Oxfam’s report comes as starvation stalks Gaza. The UN has warned that famine is “imminent” in the enclave’s north. On Friday, a US official said famine was “quite possibly” already present. Dozens of children have died of malnutrition and dehydration in the besieged enclave.

The UN’s top court has ordered Israel to ensure the “unhindered” delivery of food and other aid to Gaza.

“Israel is ignoring both the International Court of Justice order to prevent genocide and UN Security Council resolutions. Only last week the ICJ ordered new provisional measures, stating famine is no longer looming, but ‘setting in’ in Gaza,” Behar stated, adding that Oxfam demanded all countries stop supplying arms to Israel and a permanent ceasefire.

Another 92 people have been wounded, bringing the total to 75,668 since the start of the war.

The Government Media Office in Gaza said on Wednesday more than 24,000 Palestinian women and children have been killed in the Israeli army’s attacks on Gaza over the past six months, adding that the Israeli army “has committed 2,922 massacres in the Strip since October 7, 2023.”

A total of 14,500 children and 9,560 women were killed, 7,000 people were under the rubble or missing.

It said that 73 percent of those exposed to Israeli attacks in Gaza were women and children, adding that 17,000 children in Gaza live without one or both of their parents.

Reminding the starvation in Gaza, the media office added that 30 children lost their lives due to malnutrition and dehydration.

It noted that 484 healthcare workers, 140 journalists and 65 civil defence personnel have also been killed.

The number of injured people who are in serious conditions and need to be treated abroad is 11,000 and 10,000 cancer patients are at risk of death due to inadequate health care.

Israeli soldiers have detained 310 healthcare workers and 12 journalists, and 2 million people were displaced in the blockaded territory.

Some 70,000 houses were completely destroyed in Gaza, and 290,000 houses were damaged and became uninhabitable.

The Israeli army damaged 297 mosques in Gaza, 229 of which were completely destroyed, and targeted three churches, causing destruction.

It also targeted 159 health institutions in Gaza, put 53 health centres and 32 hospitals out of service, and made 126 ambulances unusable.

Israel has pounded the Palestinian enclave since a cross-border attack by resistance group Hamas, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

The Israeli war, now in its 181st day, has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which last week asked it to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.

Andres said that WCK maintained transparent communication with the Israeli military, adding that the military was informed about the movements of his aid workers.

This was not a “bad luck situation where, ‘oops,’ we dropped the bomb in the wrong place,” Andres continued.

“Even if we were not in coordination with the [Israel army], no democratic country and no military can be targeting civilians and humanitarians.”

Andres stated he was supposed to be in Gaza with his team but for different reasons “wasn’t able to go back again to Gaza.”

The WCK has called for an “independent, third party investigation” into the Israeli raids.

“We have asked the governments of Australia, Canada, the United States of America, Poland, and the United Kingdom to join us in demanding an independent, third-party investigation into these attacks, including whether they were carried out intentionally or otherwise violated international law,” the statement read.

“An independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth of what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers.”

The incident drew condemnation from the international community, including from the staunchest allies of Israel, such as the US and the UK, and other nations whose citizens were among the dead.