Associated Press: In Mideast wars, hunger grips millions across the region
“In a Middle East torn apart by war and conflict, fighters are increasingly using food as a weapon of war. Millions of people across countries like Syria, Yemen, and Iraq are gripped by hunger, struggling to survive with little help from the outside world. Children suffer from severe malnutrition, their parents often having to beg or sell possessions to get basic commodities including water, medicine, and fuel…” (Karam, 1/29).

U.N. News Centre: More than half Yemen’s population face hunger amid ongoing strife, U.N. agency warns
“Some 14.4 million Yemenis, more than half of the population of Yemen, are food insecure, an increase of 12 percent in just the last eight months, as ongoing conflict and import restrictions reduce availability and send prices soaring, the United Nations agricultural agency warned [Thursday]…” (1/28).

Wall Street Journal: Starvation Spreads Before Syria Peace Talks
“In the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Moadhamiya, residents say a renewed Syrian government siege there and bombardment of the neighboring town of Daraya have cut off the last food-smuggling routes, forcing many to subsist on one meal a day. Similar humanitarian crises are playing out around Syria…” (Malas, 1/28).

Washington Post: In a besieged Syrian town: ‘We’re still starving, and it’s getting colder’
“Snow has blanketed the Syrian town of Madaya, and the bone-chilling temperatures have compounded the suffering of thousands of people at risk of starvation there because of a months-long government siege, residents and aid workers say…” (Naylor/Haidamous, 1/28).