In the wider region, in Sudan, almost half of the population is already threatened by acute hunger, and Gaza is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster.
The deputy executive director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), Karl Skau, said that if the conflict in the Middle East continues until June, an additional 45 million people could be pushed into acute hunger due to rising prices, Al Jazeera reports.
"That would bring global hunger levels to an all-time record high, and that's a terrible, terrible prospect," Skau said, according to N1.
Currently, 319 million people, already a historical high, are acutely food insecure.
The US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began on February 28 have blocked key humanitarian aid routes, delaying life-saving shipments in some of the world's worst crises.
Skau said that transportation costs had increased by 18 percent since the start of the war and that some had to be diverted.
The additional costs come despite significant spending cuts as WFP donors focus more on defense.
In Gaza, residents are rushing to stockpile dwindling supplies as border closures and the war in Iran further strain already fragile supplies, and shortages are worsening across the besieged enclave as Israel continues its genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, according to Al Jazeera.
Israel will partially reopen Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt on Wednesday, ending a two-week closure that has deepened an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the decimated territory.
Israel closed the crossing on the same day it launched attacks on Iran with the US, justifying it with "security" reasons.
Meanwhile, more than 21 million people in Sudan, nearly half the population, face acute hunger.
Famine has been confirmed in areas where months of fighting have prevented access for aid workers.
In January, the UN warned that aid to Sudan could run out within months unless hundreds of millions of dollars more are pledged and provided.
