The World Food Programme (WFP) warned March 17 that the escalating hostilities in the Middle East could lead to record levels of food insecurity, and the largest disruption in the global economy and humanitarian efforts since the COVID-19 pandemic.
WFP deputy executive director and chief operating officer Carl Skau said: “If this conflict continues, it will send shockwaves across the globe, and families who already cannot afford their next meal will be hit the hardest.” Skau urged the international community to mount an adequately funded humanitarian response.
Since the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran in late February, the conflict has spread to encompass much of the region, causing thousands of civilian casualties and forcibly displacing over 3 million people. The WFP predicts 45 million people may slide into acute hunger (a level known as IPC Phase 3+)Â if the conflict continues. Due to the heavy reliance of food and aid distribution on energy, the skyrocketing price of oil has placed heightened strain on already vulnerable aid supply lines.
In 2025, an estimated 318 million people across 68 countries were already experiencing acute food insecurity, with 41.1 million under “Emergency” conditions or worse (IPC Phase 4+).The number of people facing catastrophic hunger (Phase 5) remained alarmingly high in 2025, exceeding 1 million.
Import-reliant countries, predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, face the greatest risk. Humanitarian organizations are already spread thin by tightening budgets, as well as the proliferation and exacerbation of global crises. Global funding for foreign aid has contracted exponentially in recent years, with a sharp decline following President Trump’s signing of Executive Order 14169, which effectively suspended most operations of USAID. Together, these developments place extraordinary pressure on humanitarian organizations, leaving millions at risk of famine. Sudan and Somalia were named as particularly vulnerable.
From JURIST, March 19. Used with permission.
Note: Hunger in the Global South has already been exacerbated by Trump’s trade tariffs regime, while spikes in the price of oil and grain since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022 have contributed to popular privation and unrest worldwide.
Photo: Alex Blokha via Wikimedia Commons
Israel’s gas field strikes threaten civilian energy lifeline
Political wrangling over who knew what before Israel bombed Iran’s South Pars gas field aside, the March 18 strikes marked a significant escalation in the US-Israeli military campaign. The deliberate attack on by far the world’s largest natural gas field—which Iran shares with Qatar and which accounts for some 70% of Iran’s domestic gas production—threatens an energy lifeline for Iranian civilians.
Iran retaliated by upping its strikes on energy sites in the Gulf region, including on Qatar’s main gas export terminal, Ras Laffan. World energy prices surged.
But US-Israeli attacks have also been hitting other types of civilian infrastructure inside Iran that are not making headlines: The Iranian Red Crescent has counted hits on 498 schools and 236 health facilities.
In Lebanon, heavy Israeli bombardments have now forced more than a million people to flee their homes. Israel has targeted bridges and bombed medical facilities, killing dozens of healthcare workers, including first responders. Israel says ambulances and medical facilities are being used by Hezbollah, a claim Lebanon’s Ministry of Health denies. (TNH)