UN / MIDDLE EAST FLETCHER BRIEFING

The Middle East conflict has reached "a moment of grave peril," UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher warned, cautioning that crises are escalating beyond the control of those who started them. UNIFEED

• Video Length: 00:06:40
• Production Date: 6 March 2026
• Asset Language: English
• Personal Subject: THOMAS FLETCHER
• Corporate Name: OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS - OCHA
• Subject Topical: HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCIES
• Geographic Subject: MIDDLE EAST
• MAMS Id: 3541689
• Parent Id: 3541689
• Alternate Title: unifeed260306a

Description

STORY: UN / MIDDLE EAST FLETCHER BRIEFING
TRT: 06:40
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 06 MARCH 2026, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

Shotlist

FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UN headquarters
06 MARCH 2026, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, press briefing room
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“I do think this is a moment of grave peril. Right now, we're seeing these crises escalate rapidly with consequences that are out of control for those instigating the conflict. And we're seeing increasing linkages between these different humanitarian crises. None of them good. We're seeing staggering amounts of money, reportedly a billion dollars a day, funding this war, spent on destruction, while politicians continue to boast about cutting aid budgets for those in greatest need.”
3. Wide shot, press briefing room
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“What we need is de-escalation. The immediate cessation of hostilities, genuine dialogue and negotiations in line with the charter of the United Nations. We need calmer heads to prevail. Actions, of course, have consequences. And once again, civilians are facing those consequences across the Middle East; homes, hospitals, and schools are being hit. Across the region UNHCR are reporting hundreds of thousands of people displaced. UNICEF are reporting that over 190 children have been killed since the escalation, including over 180 in Iran, seven in Lebanon, three in Israel, and one in Kuwait. So once again, civilians must be protected. Full stop.”
3. Wide shot, press briefing room
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“Yesterday, I spoke to the Permanent Representative of Iran. I reaffirmed the UN's readiness to help civilians needing humanitarian support. Authorities there are reporting more than a thousand deaths and damage to over 100 civilian sites. UNHCR and IOM are reporting to us that around 100,000 people have been internally displaced in the last week. In Lebanon, calls for growing concern. More than 100 people have been killed, hundreds more injured. Around 100,000 people are seeking refuge in hundreds of shelters. Even before the escalation, WFP were reporting that 874,000 people in Lebanon are lacking food. So, we and our partners are, of course, scaling up our operations, and we're looking at how we can actually mobilize further funding for Lebanon.”
5. Med shot, journalist
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“In Gaza, as you know, Israel initially shut all crossings and brought many humanitarian movements to a halt a week ago so aid stocks could not be replenished at the rate necessary. Shortages worsened, prices surged. And while current Abu Salam, Kerem Shalom has reopened, other crossings, including Rafah, remain closed for now. Medical evacuations suspended. We've been able to bring in less than 1,000,000l of fuel this week, and I've just come from a meeting with my colleague, the head of UNOPS, on this issue. Well, below the more than 2,000,000l of fuel that we need as a bare minimum to keep services running. As you know, key NGO partners remain restricted, facing unacceptable restrictions on their work. And strikes on residential areas have continued despite the cease fire.”
7. Med shot, journalist
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“Finally, in Afghanistan, dozens have been killed in fighting on the Pakistan border, many of them women and children. And civilian infrastructure has been damaged, including a hospital at the IOM Transit Center and facilities at the Torkham Returnee Reception Center. Displacement, already huge, is rising fast. More than 16,000 families have fled their homes, adding to millions already displaced across Afghanistan, and border closures have left more than 160 aid containers stranded, while flight suspensions and security restrictions are making it harder for us to reach people in need."
9. Wide shot, press briefing room
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“Beyond the impact on those country crises, I also fear three knock-on effects of this war. Firstly, war doesn't stay neatly within borders or on desktop military plans. It tears through markets, supply chains, food prices. And when that happens, it's the most vulnerable people who are hit first and hardest. And so, 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. So, we're prepositioning supplies. We're identifying alternative supply routes, and we're preparing rapid funding options, including from the Central Emergency Response Fund.”
11. Wide shot, press briefing room
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“A second knock-on effect: there will be even less attention for crises from DRC to Sudan to South Sudan, where I was last month, to Ukraine and beyond. We sometimes hear that these conflicts have been ended. Let me repeat that they have not.”
13. Med shot, journalist
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“A third knock-on impact: the last week is part of a pattern of attrition against international law and humanitarian principles. As conflicts spread, the international system pulls further apart and more resources flow towards weapons rather than the funding, the political will, the diplomatic energy needed for saving lives.”
15. Wide shot, press briefing room
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“Humanitarian action is always harder in times of war, but this is of course, when it is most needed. So, I want to end by recognizing the humanitarians who continue to head towards danger to support civilians caught up in this escalation. They must be protected. The humanitarian movement will once again meet this moment. We'll continue to serve those who need us.”
17. Wide shot, end of press briefing

Storyline

The Middle East conflict has reached "a moment of grave peril," UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher warned, cautioning that crises are escalating beyond the control of those who started them.

Tom Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, told reporters in New York today (6 Mar) that the region's overlapping emergencies were becoming dangerously interlinked, fueled by what he described as “staggering amounts of money, reportedly a billion dollars a day, funding this war spent on destruction.”

Fletcher called for immediate de-escalation and an end to hostilities, warning that “civilians are facing those consequences across the Middle East; homes, hospitals, and schools are being hit across the region.” UNICEF has reported more than 190 children killed since the escalation began, including over 180 in Iran, seven in Lebanon, three in Israel and one in Kuwait.

In Iran authorities report more than 1,000 deaths and damage to over 100 civilian sites. Around 100,000 people have been internally displaced in the past week. In Lebanon, more than 100 people have been killed and hundreds injured, with roughly 100,000 people sheltering across hundreds of sites, a country where, even before the current escalation, the World Food Programme reported 874,000 people already lacked adequate food.

In Gaza, Fletcher said aid delivery remains critically constrained. Israel closed all crossings a week ago, preventing humanitarian stocks from being replenished, and while the Abu Salem-Kerem Shalom crossing has since reopened, others including Rafah remain shut. “We've been able to bring in less than 1,000,000l of fuel this week,” he said "well below the more than 2,000,000l of fuel that we need as a bare minimum to keep services running.” Medical evacuations remain suspended, and he said key NGO partners continue to face “unacceptable restrictions on their work.”

On Afghanistan, Fletcher reported that fighting near the Pakistan border has killed dozens of civilians, including women and children, with more than 16,000 families fleeing their homes. Border closures have left over 160 aid containers stranded, and flight suspensions are further hampering access.

Fletcher outlined three knock-on risks he said he feared most. First, economic disruption: “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.”

Second, diminished global attention for other crises - in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, South Sudan and Ukraine - where, he stressed, conflicts have not ended.

Third, further erosion of international humanitarian law, with resources flowing toward weapons rather than the diplomatic and financial tools needed to protect lives.

He closed by paying tribute to aid workers operating in active conflict zones. “Humanitarian action is always harder in times of war, but this is of course when it is most needed,” Fletcher said. “The humanitarian movement will once again meet this moment.”