Aid agencies warn that a prolonged conflict in the Middle East could overwhelm operations in the region and beyond, as trade routes and funding come under mounting pressure.<\/p>\n
The US-Israeli assault on Iran has opened a new front in a region already stretched to the breaking point, where humanitarian needs were already rising, and funds were sorely lacking. Aid operations in Gaza, Sudan, Lebanon and many other crisis settings risk becoming collateral damage as agencies scramble to respond to new emergencies while struggling to keep existing programmes afloat.<\/p>\n
Iran bears the brunt<\/p>\n
Iran appears to have sustained the heaviest damage so far. Reports indicate strikes have hit residential areas, health facilities and a school. But a communications blackout and the regime\u2019s near-total isolation have made verifying information difficult.<\/p>\n
US and Israeli officials have been questioned about the reported killing of 168 Iranian schoolgirls in a strike on Saturday, which US secretary of state Marco Rubio said was under review. The Iranian Red Crescent, leading search and rescue operations, has documented at least 787 deaths since the beginning of the assault. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Geneva, to which the Iranian responders belong, could not independently confirm specific attacks because of disrupted communications.<\/p>\n
The humanitarian group has released CHF1.5 million from its emergency disaster fund to support operations, spokesperson Tommasso Della Longa said. Speaking for the World Health Organization, Tarik Ja\u0161arevi\u0107 said the agency had seen reports of health centres being struck but did not offer confirmation. He recalled that \u201cprotection of civilians, health workers and health facilities is an obligation under international humanitarian law\u201d.<\/p>\n
Risk of overwhelm<\/p>\n
On its part, the UN Refugee Agency \u2013 the largest UN presence in Iran \u2013 has seen no \u201csignificant movements\u201d of people, according to its spokesperson Babar Baloch. The country hosts some 1.6 million refugees, mostly from Afghanistan, where hunger is looming and where flaring hostilities between the Taliban and Pakistan risk causing further instability.<\/p>\n
\u201cFurther violence risks overwhelming humanitarian capacities and placing additional pressure on host communities,\u201d said Baloch, noting that some of the region\u2019s countries host millions of refugees and displaced people.<\/p>\n
Spillover across borders<\/p>\n
Humanitarians are also mobilising to come to the aid of victims of Iran\u2019s airstrikes. Magen David Adom, the Israeli Red Cross equivalent, has deployed its 39,000 volunteers and ambulances, treating over 100 injuries and anxiety cases, IFRC\u2019s Della Longa Said. On Saturday, at least nine civilians were reportedly killed in the central city of Beth Shemesh after a missile struck a residential area, the UN Human Rights Office reported. The United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain have also reported a few civilians killed or injured by debris from intercepted missiles.<\/p>\n
Hezbollah\u2019s overnight attack against Israel has drawn out yet another confrontation with Tel Aviv, officially ending the shaky ceasefire and triggering mass displacement in the southern part of the country. \u201cMany families are leaving by car and by foot with limited belongings and seeking safety in other areas,\u201d said Baloch, adding that some 30,000 people had registered in collective shelters and that contingency plans were ready in case of a displacement spillover into Syria.<\/p>\n
The escalation is also affecting aid in Gaza, where crossings have been closed since Saturday. Samer Adel Jaber, regional director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe at the World Food Programme (WFP), said the organisation had enough food stocks to last for two and a half weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf closures\u2026delays continue to affect (delivery) we expect that we will have to reduce\u2026the ration size to almost 25 per cent to support 1.3 million people with wheat flour and food parcels,\u201d he said, noting they had been informed the corridors would reopen soon.<\/p>\n
Trade routes under strain<\/p>\n
The conflict is unfolding in the middle of one of the world\u2019s busiest maritime corridors. Disruptions to shipping lanes and airspace \u2013 including the near closure of the Strait of Hormuz \u2013 could complicate assistance delivery.<\/p>\n
\u201cHumanitarian supply routes across the region are going through strain,\u201d said WFP\u2019s Jaber. Delays and rising insurance costs could drive up the price of moving aid globally, while volatility in food and fuel prices could add further pressure.<\/p>\n
The WFP official said that with sea routes contested and airspace closed, the UN agency was looking into alternatives. \u201cWe’re looking at adapting and relying on\u2026our supplier networks in other countries, like Turkey, like Egypt, like Jordan and Pakistan, to support overland corridors,\u201d he said, noting that Egyptian ports and the Suez Canal, a key hub for operations in Gaza and Sudan, were \u201cstill functioning\u201d.<\/p>\n
The conflict also comes at a time when the global humanitarian aid architecture is under financial pressure. Baloch pointed out that the UN Refugee Agency was preparing to announce the suspension of programmes in Jordan and Lebanon just this week due to insufficient funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are already underfunded in the majority of the eight or nine countries that are impacted now,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aid agencies warn that a prolonged conflict in the Middle East could overwhelm operations in the region and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7],"tags":[65,15273,5649,239],"class_list":["post-24137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-geneva","tag-geneva","tag-humanitarian-aid","tag-iran-war","tag-middle-east"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116166325024194737","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}