Middle East war fallout: Hundreds of thousands flee Lebanon to Syria; vital food aid blocked – UN agencies

The trauma of mass displacement and humanitarian supply chain disruptions throughout the world are among the devastating impacts of the war raging in the Middle East, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.

Speaking from Damascus, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)’s representative in Syria, Asseer Al-Madaien, said that the country has seen a “sharp rise” in people crossing the border from Lebanon – more than 200,000 between 2 and 27 March.

“The vast majority, nearly 180,000, are Syrians, including Syrian refugees who had fled Syria seeking safety in the past in Lebanon and now forced to flee again,” she said.

More than 28,000 Lebanese also have crossed into Syria.

“Most are people fleeing the intense Israeli bombardments,” Ms. Al-Madaien told reporters in Geneva. “They arrive exhausted, traumatized and with very, very few belongings.”

The UNHCR representative said that the agency is preparing for as many as 350,000 to cross into Syria, depending on the course of the conflict.

As the humanitarian fallout continues to deepen over a month since Israeli and US airstrikes on Iran began, sparking a wider regional war, supply lines across the Middle East are already severely disrupted.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP)’s Director of Supply, Chain Corinne Fleischer, said that the agency is concerned about “all [its] big operations”.

WFP currently has “70,000 metric tonnes of food that is impacted by the war…About half of them are on chartered bulk vessels and the other half are on in containers which are either on route or stuck in a port and don't move,” she said.

Speaking from Rome, Ms. Fleischer clarified that WFP has no vessels in the Strait of Hormuz but is impacted “by the ripple effect of what's happening there… vessels being stuck in ports, not berthing to ports, not leaving ports, containers not being offloaded”.

The WFP official warned that similar global supply chain disruptions seen during COVID took “four to five months to get back into place once the situation's stabilized”.

Shipping costs have surged as carriers avoid the Suez Canal linked to the Middle East war and have to re-route around the Cape of Good Hope. This adds up to 30 days to the journey and has driven rates up 15 to 25 per cent, with fuel price hikes also hitting firms’ bottom lines.

Speaking about mitigating measures, Ms. Fleischer explained that WFP has been “asking for priority cargo for humanitarian operations” as it is the only UN organization with its own shipping department directly engaging with shipping lines and vessel owners.

She said that the agency has successfully negotiated a waiver for the surcharges that are being put in place by shipping lines and certain ports at risk in the Middle East, which represent between $2,000 to $4,000 per container – a saving of about $1.5 million so far.

WFP is also rerouting cargo, for instance to Afghanistan, where 17 million people are food insecure.

Earlier this year, food aid sourced in Pakistan was impacted by the Pakistan-Afghanistan war and initially re-routed through Iran, Ms. Fleischer said.

“While we were [rerouting] to get into Bandar Abbas port of Iran, the war broke out” she explained. “We had to put it in Jebel Ali [port] in Dubai and now we will truck it from Dubai through Saudi Arabia...That adds about 1,000 euros per tonne and of course another three weeks.”

The WFP official expressed further concern about Sudan, with 19 million people “acutely hungry”, as well as Somalia and South Sudan, where operations are buckling under longer lead times and higher costs.

“The financing of humanitarian operations has, since several years, not being where it should be,” she said. “We have eroded any buffer stocks. We're living from hand-to-mouth in these operations.”

With famine in areas of Sudan “there is no time”, she insisted. “Our operations and pipelines don't allow for a three-weeks-longer rerouting through the Horn of Africa.”

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STORY Middle East war impacts – UNHCR, WFP

TRT: 6:42”

SOURCE: UNTV CH

RESTRICTIONS: CREDIT UNHCR FOOTAGE

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS

ASPECT RATIO: 16:9

DATELINE: 31 MARCH 2026 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND and 5 MARCH 2026 BEIRUT, LEBANON, MASNAA BORDER CROSSING, LEBANON, JDEIDET YABOUS BORDER CROSSING, SYRIA.

1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley.

2. Medium reverse shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.

3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Asseer Al-Madaien, Representative in Syria, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “Nearly a month after hostilities intensified in the region and in Lebanon, Syria has been, has seen a sharp rise in people crossing the border from Lebanon. Between 2 and 27 March, more than 200,000 people entered Syria, though the three official crossing points.”

4. Medium reverse shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.

5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Asseer Al-Madaien, Representative in Syria, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “Nearly 180,000, are Syrians, including Syrian refugees who had fled Syria seeking safety in the past in Lebanon and now forced to flee again, unfortunately. More than 28,000 Lebanese also have crossed into Syria. Most are people fleeing the intense Israeli bombardments. They arrive exhausted, traumatized and with very, very few belongings.”

6. Medium reverse shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens.

7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Corinne Fleischer, Director of Supply Chain, World Food Programme (WFP): “The World Food Programme has currently 70,000 metric tonnes of food that is impacted by the war in the Middle East. About half of them are on chartered bulk vessel and the other half are in containers which are either en route or stuck in a port and don't move.”

8. Wide shot: Journalists in the Press room; speaker on screens.

9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Corinne Fleischer, Director of Supply Chain, World Food Programme (WFP): “The World Food Programme is the only UN organization with its own shipping department directly engaging, engaging with shipping lines and vessel owners. So, we're asking for priority cargo for humanitarian operations, number one, which we do in this type of situations and often time(s) it works.”

10. Medium-wide reverse shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.

11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Corinne Fleischer, Director of Supply Chain, World Food Programme (WFP): “We have negotiated a waiver of the surcharges that are being put in place by line, by shipping lines and certain ports at risk in the in the Middle East, of between $2,000 to $4,000 per container. That's about $200 per metric ton additional.”

12. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.

13. SOUNDBITE (English) – Corinne Fleischer, Director of Supply Chain, World Food Programme (WFP): “Afghanistan, 17 million people are food insecure. We need to get there. We are sourcing quite a bit in Pakistan. That got impacted by the war between Pakistan and Afghanistan. So, we rerouted it to come in through Iran. While we were on the rerouting way to get into Bandar Abbas port of Iran, the war broke out. We had to put it in Jebel Ali in Dubai and now we will truck it from Dubai through Saudi Arabia.”

14. Wide reverse shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.

15. SOUNDBITE (English) – Corinne Fleischer, Director of Supply Chain, World Food Programme (WFP): “We're very concerned about, for example, Sudan, you know, Sudan, 19 million people acutely hungry, Somalia, you know, seven million people acutely hungry, South Sudan. Because they are affected by the carriers not using the Suez Canal and the longer lead time and the higher costs.”

16. Medium reverse shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.

17. SOUNDBITE (English) – Corinne Fleischer, Director of Supply Chain, World Food Programme (WFP): “The financing of humanitarian operations has, you know, since several years, not been where it should be. So, we have eroded any buffer stocks. We're living from hand-to-mouth in these operations. You have famine in pockets in areas in Sudan. So, there is no time. People don't have the time and our operations and pipelines don't allow for a three-weeks-longer rerouting through the Horn of Africa.”

18. Various shots of journalists in the Press room.

19. UNHCR BROLL – please credit UNHCR.

BEIRUT, LEBANON, MAR 05, 2026 - Various shots of road traffic

MASNAA BORDER, LEBANON, MAR 05, 2026 - Wide shot, people arriving at the border/ cars and buses with people fleeing at the border

BEIRUT, LEBANON, MAR 05, 2026 - VARIOUS OF CITY AS NIGHT FALLS

JDEIDET YABOUS BORDER CROSSING, SYRIA, MAR 05, 2026 – VARIOUS SHOTS OF BORDER POINT / PEOPLE ARRIVING AND REGISTERING WITH IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS / UNHCR STAFF