Aya Batraoui
Appearances
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: 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.
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.
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
A Palestinian Reporter Returns Home to Gaza City
Can you just, like, take a big breath of, like, the fresh sea air for me?
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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?
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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?
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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.
Up First from NPR
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.