GENEVA – The Middle East conflict is driving millions closer to hunger, with soaring fuel and transportation costs pushing up food prices at the same time that funding gaps force aid organisations to cut back, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
Joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February ignited a wider regional confrontation stretching across the Gulf and into Lebanon, disrupting major shipping lanes, including the Strait of Hormuz. As a result, vessels have been rerouted, significantly restricting global energy supplies and supply chains.
In March, the WFP warned that up to 45 million people could be pushed into acute food insecurity if oil prices hovered around $100 per barrel through June. That projection is now becoming reality, the agency said, with crude prices remaining above that level since early March.
Families in Afghanistan, Somalia and Sri Lanka are among those hardest hit, facing rising fuel expenses, surging food prices, falling incomes and disrupted trade.
In Somalia, about 6.5 million people — roughly one-third of the population — are expected to face severe hunger in 2026. Afghanistan could see 17.4 million people affected, the WFP noted. The situation is likely to deteriorate further, with another 2.5 million Somalis and 2.3 million Afghans at risk if disruptions continue. Both countries depend heavily on imported fuel and food.
The Middle East crisis is unfolding against the backdrop of a major funding shortage for humanitarian groups. The WFP said it expects to reach 1.5 million fewer people worldwide in 2026, and that number could climb by another 9 million if conditions persist for six months.
In Afghanistan, steep fuel price increases have pushed aid transport costs up fivefold, while delivery times have stretched from 10 days to as long as 75 as trucks are forced onto alternative routes, the WFP said.
In Somalia, skyrocketing jet fuel costs are driving up expenses for the U.N. Humanitarian Air Service — the only reliable way to reach remote and insecure areas, according to the WFP.
