Aya Batraoui
Appearances
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-15-2025 6PM EST
This is a complex and fragile deal, carried out in stages, starting with a six-week pause in hostilities and Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, which health officials there say have killed tens of thousands of people, including more than 14,000 children in the war.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-15-2025 6PM EST
33 hostages, or around a third of those held by Hamas in Gaza, will be released in exchange for many Palestinians held by Israel in this first phase. Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed al-Thani told reporters the deal aims to end the war.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-15-2025 6PM EST
He says the agreement also allows for displaced Palestinians to return to Gaza City and other areas in the north, though most of Gaza has been turned to rubble. Aya Potrawi, Empire News.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 12-31-2024 8PM EST
The UN says Israel has provided insufficient information to substantiate allegations that these hospitals were being used as command centers or launching sites by militants. The report calls for independent investigations of more than three dozen medical facilities in Gaza that were raided or attacked.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 12-31-2024 8PM EST
Over the weekend, Israeli forces shut down another major hospital in Gaza following months of deadly airstrikes. Its director, Dr. Hossam Abou-Safaya, had posted videos like this of staff trying to save wounded patients while under Israeli fire. Israel detained him over, quote, potential involvement with Hamas.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 12-31-2024 8PM EST
Staff at Kamal Adwan Hospital say it was the last lifeline for people under intense fire in northern Gaza. Israel says it was a Hamas command center. Aya Batrawi, NPR News. This is NPR.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-13-2025 7AM EDT
Trump was greeted on the tarmac as he stepped off Air Force One by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. State TV showed them shaking hands as Saudi soldiers stood guard and the two leaders walked on a long lavender carpet flanked by American and Saudi flags. The relationship between Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-13-2025 7AM EDT
under Trump is stronger than it was under President Biden, who only fist bumped the crown prince when he visited the kingdom. Trump, though, is here to make deals. Tens of billions of dollars in military and weapons sales to the kingdom are expected to be announced during the trip.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-13-2025 7AM EDT
Trump's traveling with several members of his cabinet, and American CEOs of major companies are in Riyadh for an investment forum today. Trump heads next to Qatar and the UAE. Aya Patrawi, NPR News, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-01-2025 7PM EDT
The World Food Program says all of its 25 bakeries in Gaza have shut down because they've run out of flour and fuel as a result of Israel's blockade. The UN Food Agency tells NPR it's also distributing its final food parcels to the neediest families and only has food supplies to last two more weeks to support charity kitchens that provide many with their only meal of the day.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-01-2025 7PM EDT
Israel's military says there's plenty of food in Gaza. The government says the blockade is to pressure Hamas. Mona Dehlis, a mother standing outside one of the shuttered bakeries in Gaza, tells NPR she's searching for food to feed her three daughters. Her youngest is underweight. Dehlis says she can't afford the price of a large sack of flour, which has soared to $80.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-01-2025 7PM EDT
Aya Batraoui, NPR News Dubai, with reporting by Anas Baba in Gaza City.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-17-2025 3PM EDT
NPR's Aya Batraoui has more. Overnight Israeli attacks targeted three displaced families sheltering in makeshift tents, two of them in northern Gaza and one in the south. Gaza's health ministry says 23 people were killed in those separate attacks.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-17-2025 3PM EDT
The Abolruz family was hit hardest, losing 10 people who burnt to death when their tent was struck in a sandy area called Moesi that Israel's military has told people to shelter in. Video from the incident shared by rescue crews shows a tent engulfed in fire.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-17-2025 3PM EDT
The death toll in Gaza from the past 18 months of war has surpassed 51,000 people killed by Israeli fire, a third of them children, according to the Gaza health ministry's public records. Dubai.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-17-2025 3PM EDT
I'm not happy with him. Let him know it. And if I want him out, he'll be out of there real fast, believe me.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-01-2025 4AM EST
One of Egypt's plans looks at how to rebuild Gaza after sustained Israeli airstrikes. Another lays out ideas for a new political landscape without Hamas and the unpopular Palestinian Authority. While another looks at the possibility of peace in the region. But all these ideas are rooted in one thing, Palestinians remaining in Gaza. Egypt's former foreign minister, Nabil Fahmy, explains.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-01-2025 4AM EST
Cairo will host Arab leaders in the coming days to discuss Egypt's ideas and the region's rejection of Palestinian expulsion. Egypt's also a mediator between Hamas and Israel. Negotiators are converging in Cairo this weekend to discuss the current ceasefire. Aya Batraoui, NPR News, Cairo.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-28-2025 5PM EDT
Israel's military released a statement saying its soldiers shot out, quote, suspicious vehicles, killing a number of Hamas militants overnight on Sunday. The military says after an initial inquiry, it determined that some of the vehicles were ambulances and fire trucks. These findings were announced five days after the crew of 15 went missing.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-28-2025 5PM EDT
The statement offers no further details on the fate of the crews inside. Gaza's civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Basel says the body of one missing rescue crew worker has so far been found, apparently buried in the sand by an Israeli bulldozer. And he says based on what they've been able to gather from the scene, there are likely no survivors.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-28-2025 5PM EDT
The Red Crescent says it's found only four destroyed ambulances that it too says were buried in the sand. Aya Batraoui, NPR News, Dubai.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-16-2025 7AM EDT
Trump's Mideast visit began just after Hamas released the last living American-Israeli hostage held in Gaza. Hamas says it did so on the understanding the U.S. would call for a permanent ceasefire and push for aid to enter Gaza. Instead, while in the region, Trump appeared to double down on his idea that Palestinians in Gaza should be permanently relocated outside the territory. saying the U.S.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-16-2025 7AM EDT
should get involved there and make it a, quote, freedom zone. He then said his administration's looking at people starving in Gaza under Israel's total blockade, saying we've got to get that taken care of without elaborating. His comments come as Israel says it struck more than 100 Hamas sites in recent days and attacks that have killed hundreds, including entire families.
Up First from NPR
Trump Meets Syria's President, Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks, RFK Jr. On Capitol Hill
Michelle, this could transform the region, not just Syria. And to get a sense of how big this decision is, have a listen to the reaction in the room when Trump announced this. He was at an investment forum in Riyadh in front of the Saudi crown prince when he said this.
Up First from NPR
Trump Meets Syria's President, Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks, RFK Jr. On Capitol Hill
So this brought Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the entire room to their feet in a standing ovation. And it matters because Syria is a pillar of the Middle East. It's a beacon of culture and intellect. But for more than a decade, it was crumbling and it was impoverished from civil war. This destabilized parts of the region. And throughout, those sanctions were really hurting average Syrians.
Up First from NPR
Trump Meets Syria's President, Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks, RFK Jr. On Capitol Hill
You know, hospitals were struggling to get spare parts to keep machines or even elevators running. But now Trump says that was then and this is now. And this new Syria, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, says it's ready to build a relationship with the United States. Now, Trump's meeting with him today lasted half an hour. It included the Saudi crown prince and Turkey's president joined over the phone.
Up First from NPR
Trump Meets Syria's President, Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks, RFK Jr. On Capitol Hill
They touched on security concerns that the U.S. has with some extremist groups still in Syria. Another reason this reset matters, though, Michelle, is that Arab states don't want Iran to have a foothold in Syria anymore, and the U.S. doesn't want Russia building back its bases there.
Up First from NPR
Trump Meets Syria's President, Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks, RFK Jr. On Capitol Hill
You know, lifting sanctions like this will be a complicated process. Syria is listed as a state sponsor of terrorism, and for that to be changed, this would have to go through Congress. Also, Israel has been carrying out airstrikes inside Syria for months. They call the new government extremists, and they have troops positioned deep inside Syrian territory indefinitely.
Up First from NPR
Trump Meets Syria's President, Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks, RFK Jr. On Capitol Hill
Israel says it's concerned Syria could become a base of attacks. And we know that just last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had asked Trump not to lift sanctions on Syria.
Up First from NPR
Trump Meets Syria's President, Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks, RFK Jr. On Capitol Hill
So the crown prince told Trump he would get at least $600 billion in Saudi investments into the U.S. over the next four years. And the bulk of this is in defense and weapons sales to the kingdom. But it also includes deals in tech and AI. Now, Trump brought with him to Riyadh America's top CEOs from companies like Google, Amazon, NVIDIA, Boeing.
Up First from NPR
Trump Meets Syria's President, Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks, RFK Jr. On Capitol Hill
And they lined up to greet Trump and the crown prince in a lavish reception. The handshakes show just how pivotal Trump is to the crown prince's relaunch. You know, it was only seven years ago that the world turned its back on him after the murder of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi by his men inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey.
Up First from NPR
Trump Meets Syria's President, Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks, RFK Jr. On Capitol Hill
I think the trip is going to focus on two things. First, it'll be Qatar's unique role in the region as host to the biggest number of U.S. troops in the Middle East, but also as a host to groups the U.S. doesn't traditionally talk to, like Hamas, which the Trump administration is directly negotiating with that led to the release of a U.S.-Israeli soldier and hostage on Monday.
Up First from NPR
Trump Meets Syria's President, Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks, RFK Jr. On Capitol Hill
So we might hear surprises from Trump in Qatar later today about his vision for a Gaza ceasefire.
Up First from NPR
Gaza War 2024, Gaza Hospital Shutdown, Biden's Complicated Legacy
Yeah, so this war has been dragging on for almost 15 months now. But about three months ago, Israel launched a very focused offensive on the north of Gaza, and they brought in a lot of firepower to do this. And they said this was aimed at Hamas fighters who were trying to regroup in this area. So they essentially laid siege to around 200,000 people. They had no access to water, food, any aid.
Up First from NPR
Gaza War 2024, Gaza Hospital Shutdown, Biden's Complicated Legacy
Many saw this as a starve or leave policy aimed at permanently expelling them from the territory. And a lot of them had to leave. The airstrikes were so severe and they were starving. But, you know, with no ambulances able to work, no rescue services able to operate and pull people from the rubble, this hospital, Kaman Adwen, became people's only lifeline.
Up First from NPR
Gaza War 2024, Gaza Hospital Shutdown, Biden's Complicated Legacy
Well, this hospital, like others, has been raided previously in the war. But as Israel began issuing these blanket evacuation orders for all of North Gaza, this hospital and its director, Dr. Hossam Al-Busafaya, refused to abide. And he started posting videos online of why.
Up First from NPR
Gaza War 2024, Gaza Hospital Shutdown, Biden's Complicated Legacy
So in this one, for example, you can hear severely wounded children connected to life support. He says he couldn't leave them behind and they couldn't be transported. He also told NPR earlier this month that the collapse of this hospital would mean the end of life itself in Gaza. And here you can hear him say that.
Up First from NPR
Gaza War 2024, Gaza Hospital Shutdown, Biden's Complicated Legacy
But there was fighting around the hospital, which is located in the heart of Bitlahia in northern Gaza. And Kumail Adwen suddenly found itself on the front lines of this war. It's water tanks, generators, ICU and other departments directly hit by Israeli fire. Even a young patient inside was wounded in the operating room.
Up First from NPR
Gaza War 2024, Gaza Hospital Shutdown, Biden's Complicated Legacy
Staff and patients were among those killed and wounded at and around the hospital. You can hear the hospital here under fire.
Up First from NPR
Gaza War 2024, Gaza Hospital Shutdown, Biden's Complicated Legacy
And Dr. Abu Safiya was also among those wounded in these strikes, and his son was killed at the hospital's gates. And why does Israel say it needed to shut down this hospital?
Up First from NPR
Gaza War 2024, Gaza Hospital Shutdown, Biden's Complicated Legacy
Israel says this hospital was being used by Hamas, and that in this operation and raid that shut down the hospital, they arrested 240 people they're accusing of being militants in the area, some of whom they say, they believe, were involved in the October 7th attack last year on Israel that sparked this war.
Up First from NPR
Gaza War 2024, Gaza Hospital Shutdown, Biden's Complicated Legacy
Israel describes this raid as swift and covert, but among those detained is the director of the hospital, Dr. Abel Safaya. They say they're holding him for potential involvement with Hamas.
Up First from NPR
Gaza War 2024, Gaza Hospital Shutdown, Biden's Complicated Legacy
But groups like the UN's World Health Organization, Amnesty International, and others are calling for his immediate release and the release of hundreds of medics detained in this war, saying they're really concerned about their safety and treatment in detention.
Up First from NPR
Gaza War 2024, Gaza Hospital Shutdown, Biden's Complicated Legacy
Now, it's also important to note that NPR has reached out to staff at the hospital in past weeks and months of this offensive, and they told us Hamas was not using the hospital for cover or operations. In fact, Dr. Abel Sofaya and others had been sheltering with their families in the hospital for safety.
Up First from NPR
Gaza War 2024, Gaza Hospital Shutdown, Biden's Complicated Legacy
But the hospital also says that they treated whoever came, and Israel says that it detained some patients they suspect of being militants.
Up First from NPR
Gaza War 2024, Gaza Hospital Shutdown, Biden's Complicated Legacy
Thank you, Leila. Thank you.
Up First from NPR
Seesawing Tariffs, Trump's Middle East Agenda, Sean 'Diddy' Combs Trial
So tell us what's happening in Saudi Arabia, where you are today. So it began with Trump's arrival. You know, he was greeted on the tarmac by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. And that's in contrast with Biden's visit here when they only fist bumped and the Crown Prince didn't even go out of his way to meet, you know, the president back then at the tarmac. Now, Trump is different.
Up First from NPR
Seesawing Tariffs, Trump's Middle East Agenda, Sean 'Diddy' Combs Trial
You know, he's transactional. And what that means for the Gulf and Gulf leaders here is that they know that if they deliver on big weapons purchases and other investments in the U.S., Trump will give them something in return for their security. Ali Shahabi, a Saudi analyst, says there are huge economic interests on both sides.
Up First from NPR
Seesawing Tariffs, Trump's Middle East Agenda, Sean 'Diddy' Combs Trial
So what Adi's saying here is that these big business deals, the bulk of them in weaponry and defense sales, are not just about economics. This maintains America's position as the Arab Gulf's main security guarantor at a time when Russia and China also have major inroads in this region.
Up First from NPR
Seesawing Tariffs, Trump's Middle East Agenda, Sean 'Diddy' Combs Trial
Yeah, those personal ties are linked to his family's business interest in the Gulf. Just less than two weeks ago, his son, Eric Trump, who runs the family business, the Trump Organization, was in the region launching new projects, a Trump hotel tower in Dubai, a Trump golf course in Qatar. There's also money from the Gulf flowing into the Trump family's cryptocurrency venture,
Up First from NPR
Seesawing Tariffs, Trump's Middle East Agenda, Sean 'Diddy' Combs Trial
And Qatar has just offered Trump a new Boeing airplane to replace one of the aging Air Force One jets. But also Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has $2 billion invested in his private equity fund from a Saudi fund overseen by the crown prince. So what we're seeing on this trip is a confluence of all these interests coming together.
Up First from NPR
Seesawing Tariffs, Trump's Middle East Agenda, Sean 'Diddy' Combs Trial
He has to. I mean, this region is interconnected. And what happens in Gaza is not only deeply emotional for the Arab public here, you know, seeing tens of thousands of Palestinians killed and the population they're starving under Israel's blockade. But it's also drawn in the Houthis from Yemen attacking ships in the Red Sea. And there's also issues concerning Syria, whether the U.S.
Up First from NPR
Seesawing Tariffs, Trump's Middle East Agenda, Sean 'Diddy' Combs Trial
will lift sanctions now under a new government there or how much Trump will give Iran nuclear talks time to plan out. I know all this will be raised by Gulf leaders in their conversations. And for Trump, you know, he really wants to cap his presidency with another Abraham Accords deal, the prize being Saudi Arabia and Israel establishing ties.
Up First from NPR
Seesawing Tariffs, Trump's Middle East Agenda, Sean 'Diddy' Combs Trial
But Saudis have been clear it's not going to happen without an end to the war, a path towards Palestinian state. But, you know. The U.S. has direct talks with Hamas now, and that led to yesterday's release of the last living American held in Gaza. So Trump is clearly doing things differently. And I think the perception here in the Gulf is that is exactly what's needed right now.
Up First from NPR
Seesawing Tariffs, Trump's Middle East Agenda, Sean 'Diddy' Combs Trial
That is NPR's Aya Bertralli. Aya, thank you. Thanks, Michelle.
Up First from NPR
Russia Mulls Ceasefire, EPA Rollbacks, Iran Rebuffs Trump
So this letter was delivered by a senior Emirati official from Abu Dhabi who traveled to Tehran and met with Iran's foreign minister yesterday. But before it was even read by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had this to say.
Up First from NPR
Russia Mulls Ceasefire, EPA Rollbacks, Iran Rebuffs Trump
So he's speaking to university students yesterday in televised remarks, saying the U.S. is trying to deceive global public opinion with this letter and that Iran is not ready to negotiate. And referring to Trump, he says this is the same person who tore up and threw out a signed agreement. Now, he's talking about Trump's decision in his first term as president to withdraw the U.S.
Up First from NPR
Russia Mulls Ceasefire, EPA Rollbacks, Iran Rebuffs Trump
from a nuclear deal that was reached under President Obama and included China, Russia and European countries. That deal put caps on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions.
Up First from NPR
Russia Mulls Ceasefire, EPA Rollbacks, Iran Rebuffs Trump
And he warned Iran can defend itself against threats.
Up First from NPR
Russia Mulls Ceasefire, EPA Rollbacks, Iran Rebuffs Trump
Well, despite Khamenei's sharp words, Michelle, Iran's mission to the United Nations struck a different tone, saying in a post on X that if the objective of negotiations is to address concerns about the potential of nuclear weapons, these discussions may be subject to consideration, but that Iran would not dismantle its peaceful nuclear program.
Up First from NPR
Russia Mulls Ceasefire, EPA Rollbacks, Iran Rebuffs Trump
And it's important to note here, Iran's position has been that its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes and that it's not interested in building a nuclear weapon. That said, since Trump scuttled the nuclear deal in 2018, Iran has been increasing its stockpile of enriched uranium, according to U.N. inspectors. But also, you know, the U.S.
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Russia Mulls Ceasefire, EPA Rollbacks, Iran Rebuffs Trump
and Israel, which has hit nuclear targets in Iran before, they're not the only countries involved here. The U.K., France and Germany have continued talks with Iran about its nuclear program. And tomorrow, China, Russia and Iran are meeting in Beijing to discuss Iran's nuclear program and the sanctions that are crippling its economy.
Up First from NPR
Russia Mulls Ceasefire, EPA Rollbacks, Iran Rebuffs Trump
Right. So the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, these Gulf Arab states are playing the role of mediator on many different files, whether that's on Iran or Ukraine, as we just heard from Charles, or in Gaza. And so the reason they can do this, though, is because while they view the U.S. as the most important military superpower, it's not the only player on the block.
Up First from NPR
Russia Mulls Ceasefire, EPA Rollbacks, Iran Rebuffs Trump
They've kept warm relations with Russia, for example, and it was China, if you recall, that brokered the deal that repaired... Ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia a few years ago. So they're balancing ties and they're super focused on their own economic growth right now. And so, yes, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, they want hard curbs on Iran's missile program and its nuclear ambitions.
Up First from NPR
Russia Mulls Ceasefire, EPA Rollbacks, Iran Rebuffs Trump
And they would like to see its Shia militias in the region wiped out. But they do not want a region on edge or the kind of attacks on oil targets in the Gulf that we saw under Trump's first term when tensions were soaring. That is Amphibious Air Patrol in Dubai. Thank you. Thanks, Michelle.
Up First from NPR
A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
And a lot of times it would just be venting frustrations, just like being there for each other as colleagues. Reassuring each other that what they did mattered. And then there's also just the element of like, how are you? How are you? You know, what did you eat for breakfast? Did you get food today? Did you sleep well?
Up First from NPR
A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
Wait, I want you, I want you to just, like, you said the sea is on your left, the Mediterranean, the coast.
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A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
Can you just, like, take a big breath of, like, the fresh sea air for me?
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A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
Now the bombs have stopped. I think now is a good time to ask him to sit and think about what it's been like.
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A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
I still think he's in a little bit of a fight-or-flight mode, like, because he hasn't really settled in yet.
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A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
From then on, Ea was on the phone with Anas almost every day. Trying to figure out how we tell the story together and what the story should be. It was a very intense, very intense time.
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A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
This is the sound of Gaza's biggest hospital, Al Shifa. All of its beds are full, like all of Gaza's hospitals, clinics, and medical centers, serving its population of two million. Every functioning hospital is at full capacity. the stream of wounded and dead. So he was there interviewing staff, documenting some of the cases coming in, just getting us information of what it was like on the ground.
Up First from NPR
A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
I remember having this call with him and he was like, OK, this is the situation. They're telling us to evacuate to the south, all of Gaza City. It was kind of like panic mode.
Up First from NPR
A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
I've been talking to them all week. It's been sheer terror and trauma. They tell me the sounds of the bombs this time are different. And even Israel has said that this war is different and that the response will be harder and harsher than Hamas has ever seen. I can hear in my voice, like my voice, like quivering and going away because it had been such an intense week.
Up First from NPR
A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
Already had been like seven days of nonstop reporting and calls. And yeah, like I can hear in my voice that, already like a sense of exhaustion. I spoke with our producer in Gaza, Anas Baba, who also had to leave with his family.
Up First from NPR
A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
He told me scenes of mothers carrying their babies and walking by foot for miles, fathers walking with kids on their back, young children having to walk for miles and miles, all of them trying to head south.
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A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
But sometimes Eya didn't hear from Anas for days. Was the phone line down because they've run out of fuel to keep their telecoms operating or something was struck? He had to use an eSIM or was there like 3G or 4G available?
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A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
I can't remember exactly when I came across it on Instagram, but this is like a collage by this group called Gaza Poets. And it sort of spoke to me so much because it's how I felt. It just says in big black letters in the middle, Gaza is being bombed. And all these tiny little words around it saying things like, I eat breakfast while Gaza is being bombed. I read a book while Gaza is being bombed.
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A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
I laugh at a joke while Gaza is being bombed. I go to the gym while Gaza is being bombed. I fall asleep while Gaza is being bombed. Reporting was actually like a really important way to release some of that pressure that was building up.
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A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
It's war. It's war, but it's also a war that was happening so quick and so fast, and one that had... the full, full backing of the United States. And also there are certain numbers that certainly have defied the history books, like Oxfam reports that more women and children were killed in one year of war in Gaza than in any other war in decades.
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A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
The Committee to Protect Journalists says more journalists were killed in Gaza than any war on record. Same with healthcare workers, civil defense rescue workers, like the list goes on and on. I really had to think, how do you tell the story of Gaza?
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A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
It was live streamed every day on like every platform. TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, WhatsApp. People saw. And had access to see everything.
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A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
Like, why are my kids able to just bike, stub their toe, cry for an hour and get ice cream? And like, all these other kids are like, dying these very slow, painful deaths under the rubble. There's such a disconnect. That for me was a moment where I felt like, I don't know if I can keep doing this. I don't have the luxury to tap out. Like, you have to keep going. You have to keep reporting.
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A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
This is what you do. You have to keep documenting. It became our only way to cope with a feeling of helplessness. Because every single aspect of this conflict has been under dispute or questioned, starting with death tolls, the number of dead, who died, how they died, why they died, even just the number of aid trucks going in. You'd think that's a pretty straightforward thing to count. It's not.
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The Trial of Sean Combs
With these high profile cases like Harvey Weinstein and the NXIVM cult case, courts are willing to define sex. commercial sex as an exchange of sex, not just for money, but for anything of value. So it could be promises to help your career in entertainment. It could be moving up in the hierarchy in the cult. So it can be various things.
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The Trial of Sean Combs
It's bringing somebody across state lines either to engage in commercial sex or any act that would be against federal law. So that could include things like trafficking, things like rape. So that encompasses more than just prostitution.
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The Trial of Sean Combs
It's always been designed as an aid in the government to prosecute people that they think other people wouldn't testify against. But another sort of clever part of the prosecution plan here is to paint the underlings as victims, right? Because somebody could think, well, this is a person who likes to be close to power and
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The Trial of Sean Combs
who gets a lot of money for doing bad things for Diddy, and this is sort of a bad actor here.
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Jobs Report, White House Crypto Summit, Gaza Ceasefire Uncertainty
Well, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he never actually sent negotiators to hammer out the details of a second phase. And he wants a different deal now that does not permanently end the war, but frees more hostages taken in the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023.
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Jobs Report, White House Crypto Summit, Gaza Ceasefire Uncertainty
So instead of proceeding with the original deal, Trump's Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, came up with a different plan in recent days that gives Netanyahu what he wants. And to pressure Hamas into this new deal, Israel's blocked all food, fuel and aid into Gaza for six days now.
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Jobs Report, White House Crypto Summit, Gaza Ceasefire Uncertainty
Now, countries around the world, aid organizations and several Israeli rights groups say this violates international humanitarian law.
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Jobs Report, White House Crypto Summit, Gaza Ceasefire Uncertainty
So the main difference is the original deal agreed to would have ended the war now. Basically an agreement to lasting truce. And then all remaining Israeli hostages still alive would be freed over the next six weeks. And Israeli troops would withdraw from Gaza and more Palestinian prisoners would be freed.
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Jobs Report, White House Crypto Summit, Gaza Ceasefire Uncertainty
In contrast, the Witkoff plan would have Hamas release half the remaining hostages still held in Gaza now. with only the promise to negotiate a lasting end to the war after six weeks. James has not agreed to that, and Netanyahu may decide not to end the war because of pressure from his far-right coalition.
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Jobs Report, White House Crypto Summit, Gaza Ceasefire Uncertainty
He's in a bind because he has vowed to return all the hostages and eliminate James, but a return to war doesn't guarantee either.
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Jobs Report, White House Crypto Summit, Gaza Ceasefire Uncertainty
Okay, so you may have heard Trump's idea that everyone in Gaza is going to be displaced to other countries like Egypt and Jordan, and then the U.S. takes over the Gaza Strip somehow, turning it into a world-class real estate development without Palestinians who live there now.
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Jobs Report, White House Crypto Summit, Gaza Ceasefire Uncertainty
Now, Israel's government has embraced this plan and is drafting up ways to implement it, but Egypt has been clear it will not be a part of Trump's plan to permanently expel Palestinians off the land. And Egypt says the plan is destabilizing to the region and would unravel its decades-old peace treaty with Israel. Hmm.
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Jobs Report, White House Crypto Summit, Gaza Ceasefire Uncertainty
So instead, Egypt drew up a detailed reconstruction plan for Gaza of its own, and it got the backing of all Arab states at a summit in Cairo this week. They also all rejected any displacement of Palestinians. So Israel and the U.S. immediately criticized this lengthy Egyptian plan. But then Steve Witkoff said this yesterday.
Up First from NPR
Jobs Report, White House Crypto Summit, Gaza Ceasefire Uncertainty
So, Steve, the plan doesn't address every single concern that Israel or, you know, Gulf Arab states like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have about, you know, what would come next. And they'll be needed to help fund the reconstruction. But it would exclude Hamas from any governance. And Hamas says they agree to that.
Up First from NPR
Jobs Report, White House Crypto Summit, Gaza Ceasefire Uncertainty
Thank you, Steve.