The United Nations humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said on Friday that the Middle East was in “grave peril,” with tens of millions of civilians caught in the crossfire on multiple fronts of the escalating war, which was brewing into a sprawling humanitarian crisis.

Mr. Fletcher, speaking to reporters at the U.N. headquarters in New York, warned that the United States and Israel’s war with Iran, along with the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, a major maritime corridor for energy, food and other goods, could affect supply chains and prices.
“When maritime corridors, such as the Strait of Hormuz, are disrupted, food prices will rise, health systems will be squeezed, and basic commodities, including our humanitarian supplies, will become much harder to access,” he said.

The U.N.’s humanitarian agency was fully mobilizing to ᴀssist civilians as the crisis unfolded, Mr. Fletcher said. In Iran, at least 1,000 people had died and attacks had targeted over 100 civilian sites, with some 100,000 Iranians internally displaced in the past week alone, Mr. Fletcher said, citing figures from the U.N.’s refugee agency and the Iranian authorities. He said Iran’s government had not asked for U.N. humanitarian ᴀssistance.

Mr. Fletcher said that U.N. relief workers were mounting a response that included positioning supplies, scaling up staff, identifying alternative logistical routes and preparing rapid-response sources of humanitarian aid, including the U.N.’s Central Emergency Response Fund.
He had sharp words for the politicians waging the war, calling for an immediate de-escalation of the conflict and the resumption of diplomacy.
“We’re seeing staggering amounts of money, reportedly $1 billion a day, funding this war, spent on destruction, while politicians continue to boast about cutting aid budgets for those in greatest need,” Mr. Fletcher said. “So too many warning lights are flashing on the dashboard right now.”