Middle East crisis: Humanitarian fallout ‘worsening by the day’

Thursday, July 30, 2026UN NewsThe humanitarian toll is mounting as fighting continues in the Middle East beyond strikes and counterstrikes between the US and Iran, the UN aid coordination office OCHA warned on Thursday, with civilians increasingly at risk and essential infrastructure disrupted in several countries across the region.“The humanitarian consequences of the Middle East escalation are worsening by the day,” OCHA said in its latest update. Since Wednesday, civilian casualties have been recorded in Iran and Kuwait, while damage or destruction to critical infrastructure has been highlighted in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Civilians at growing riskIn Iran, a new wave of strikes was reported on Thursday in the provinces of Fars, Hormozgan, Bushehr and Khuzestan, including the country’s main oil-producing region. Local sources reported that a strike in Qeshm, Hormozgan province, hit a residential building, killing three civilians, including a two-year-old. Two other children were reportedly injured. Iranian health authorities said that as of 27 July, at least 60 people have been killed, and 670 injured, since hostilities escalated a month ago. UN agencies and humanitarian partners ...