WFP - Middle East Operations Ready To Scale Up

The humanitarian situation across the Middle East is changing quickly driven by ongoing security developments. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is operational, positioned, and ready to scale as needs grow. We have activated emergency preparedness measures across the region and we can move fast.

World Food Programme country offices are preparing to scale up quickly if displacement increases, including in Iran, Türkiye, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Palestine, and Armenia.

In Lebanon, WFP has already activated contingency plans in coordination with local authorities, providing food assistance and support for those who have already been displaced by the violence.

At the same time, the impact of the conflict on commercial shipping and air travel are piling pressure on the humanitarian supply chains that WFP runs, on staff movements, and on logistics planning.

ON LOGISTICS

Across the region, the humanitarian supply lines are under growing strain. The rising security risks in the region are choking shipping routes and disrupting aid delivery.

Maritime access is becoming more difficult. Risks in the Strait of Hormuz, combined with the threat of renewed attacks in the Red Sea, are disrupting shipping between Asia and the Middle East. These disruptions are increasing transport costs, extending delivery times, and tightening the availability of containers.

Ongoing airspace closures across the Gulf are also limiting crew changes and complicating humanitarian rotations and emergency deployments.

With airspace closing and seas contested, we are racing to adapt. WFP and partners are doing that by, for example, increasing reliance on suppliers and transit routes in Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, and Pakistan, and using overland corridors between the UAE and the Levant where possible. We’re also relying on Egypt’s fully operational ports and the Suez Canal, which remain critical hubs for the region.