Trump administration officials are locked in an internal debate about whether to label Houthi rebels in Yemen as a terrorist organization, as aid groups and United Nations officials warn that the move could trigger a humanitarian disaster in a country that has now spent five years at war, four people familiar with the discussions told NBC News.

Officials at the United States Agency for International Development and at the State Department have in recent days pushed back against Secretary Mike Pompeo’s plan to designate the Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen as a foreign terrorist organization, arguing it could severely disrupt the delivery of food and other emergency aid to a country already teetering on the brink of famine, a senior administration official, a former state department official, a congressional aide and a member of an international humanitarian aid organization said. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

New data released by the U.N. last week showed 17,000 people are facing famine-like conditions in Yemen, providing a grim backdrop to the debate. Some 47,000 are expected to reach similar levels by the middle of 2021.

USAID has drafted a detailed analysis of the possible damaging impact of the move, a congressional aide said, and the agency’s chief, John Barsa, personally appealed to Pompeo this week not to carry out the decision, according to a former State Department official briefed on the meeting.

Assistant Secretary of State of Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker flew to the region this week and was due to hold talks in Oman and Saudi Arabia. A senior administration official, a former State Department official and a global humanitarian aid worker briefed on the discussions said Schenker was exploring possible alternatives to designating the Houthis as terrorists, including blacklisting individual leaders or key figures in the group. Both Barsa and Schenker were brought into their positions by the Trump administration.

“At every level below Pompeo in the State Department, people are making every effort to either slow this down or at least ensure that it is not an FTO [foreign terrorist organization] designation,” the former State Department official said. “We now see actual political appointees who are Iran hawks but understand, ‘Oh wait, this is really damaging.’”

It is unclear whether Pompeo will be moved by the appeals. Supporters view the designation of the Tehran-backed Yemeni rebels as part of the United States' “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran and a departing blow to Iranian influence in the Middle East and expected efforts by the future Biden administration to re-enter a nuclear agreement.