Middle East war risks pushing 45 million more people into acute hunger

The World Food Programme warned on Tuesday that the Middle East war could cause the worst disruption to lifesaving humanitarian work since COVID, while UN Secretary-General António Guterres demanded an end to the widening conflict. The WFP issued the warning on March 17, 2026, as the escalating violence in the Middle East continues into its third week, sparked by Israeli and US strikes on Iran and retaliatory attacks by Tehran and allied groups, according to a press release. Guterres stated that all Security Council resolutions regarding the end of Middle East conflicts must be implemented, including resolution 2817, which demanded an end to Iran’s attacks on neighbouring States. The humanitarian effects continue to be felt acutely in Lebanon, one of the epicentres of the conflict.

Relief operations are suffering from longer shipping times and increased costs as ongoing hostilities continue, including Iranian counterstrikes against Gulf states and Israeli attacks on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau told reporters in Geneva that supply chains may be on the brink of the most severe disruption since COVID and the Ukraine war back in 2022. The agency’s shipping costs are up 18 per cent so far, with thousands of trucks on the roads every day running on much more expensive fuel due to oil prices. Higher costs mean that WFP can buy less food or provide less cash to beneficiaries.

WFP has been forced to cut food rations for people in famine conditions in Sudan and is only able to support one in four acutely malnourished children in Afghanistan, currently the world’s worst malnutrition crisis. The disruption of global fertilizer markets is another major concern just as sub-Saharan Africa heads into a planting season, with a quarter of the world’s fertilizer supply coming through the Strait of Hormuz, which is now at a virtual standstill. The spike in global food and fuel costs could leave millions of families priced out of staple foods, particularly in import-dependent countries, like sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. If the Middle East conflict continues through June, an additional 45 million people could be pushed into acute hunger by price rises, which would take global hunger levels to an all-time record.

Displacement and humanitarian needs across Lebanon have surged as a result of Israeli airstrikes and displacement orders covering ever larger portions of the small Middle Eastern nation’s territory. The UN’s top aid official in the country, Imran Riza, told reporters in Geneva that 132,700 people are staying in some 622 shelters but the total number of those who’ve had to flee their homes is likely more than one million. About 70 per cent of the displaced are not in shelters, which creates challenges for humanitarians trying to reach them.

“They’re very vulnerable people that are remaining behind – and there are others that want don’t want to risk losing their homes, their villages,” Riza said.

UN human rights office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan warned that Israeli displacement orders may amount to forced displacement, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law.

The air bridge from Gulf states that provided assistance to Lebanon during the previous Israel-Lebanon conflict in 2024 is no longer there, Riza explained. At least 16 medical staff have been killed in recent days, while people displaced by the fighting and living in tents along Beirut’s seafront have been hit by airstrikes. Al-Kheetan stated that statements by Israeli officials threatening to impose the same level of destruction on Lebanon as inflicted in Gaza are wholly unacceptable. Such rhetoric, coupled with the Israeli military’s announcement that it would deploy additional forces and expand its ground incursion, intensify deep fear and anxiety among the Lebanese population.