Middle East

President Biden walks toward Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on Fri., Oct. 13, 2023.

Biden made promises to Israel and Ukraine. To keep his word, he needs Congress

8:01am October 16, 2023

by Tamara Keith

The White House is asking Congress this week for billions of dollars in overseas spending. But it's not at all clear this can pass — and that means President Biden has a lot on the line.

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Israel tells northern Gaza to evacuate, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flee

7:59am October 16, 2023

Israel's retaliation against Hamas for deadly attack on southern Israel has upended life for all of Gaza's 2.3 million residents. Bombardment by air and sea has killed more than 2,700 Palestinians.

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Workers stack supplies on Sunday at one of the warehouses in North Sinai, Egypt, where the Egyptian Red Crescent stores foreign aid destined for Gaza. The aid convoy, organized by a group of Egyptian NGOs, set off from Cairo for the Gaza-Egypt border crossing at Rafah.

World News

Up First briefing: Gazans struggle to survive; Biden seeks Israel and Ukraine aid

7:52am October 16, 2023

by Suzanne Nuyen

Without a cease-fire, Egypt can't give aid to Gazans struggling to survive. And, Biden is expected to ask Congress for money to help Israel and Ukraine.

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Gaza's border with Egypt is closed. Why won't Egypt let Palestinians in?

7:24am October 16, 2023

NPR's A Martinez talks to former Egyptian diplomat Abderahman Salaheldin about Egypt's role in the war between Israel and Hamas.

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National

How do you explain to children about the bloodshed in Gaza and Israel?

6:42am October 16, 2023

by Brian Mann

Grieving Jewish American parents in upstate New York struggle to explain the violence in Israel and Gaza to their young children.

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Morning news brief

5:21am October 16, 2023

Humanitarian crisis deepens as Israel-Hamas war continues. President Biden will ask Congress for more funding for Ukraine and Israel. Poland's right-wing government appears to be on its way out.

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Israelis question Netanyahu's future in office after Hamas' surprise incursion

5:11am October 16, 2023

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Guy Ziv of American University's Center for Israel Studies, about how the surprise attack by Hamas may change Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's political future.

Food and water in Gaza are scarce. U.N. is limited in what it can do for civilians

5:11am October 16, 2023

NPR's A Martinez talks to Adnan Abu-Hasna of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, about the worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

Sun. Oct. 15: A shell from Israeli artillery explodes over a house in al-Bustan, a Lebanese border village with Israel, south Lebanon.

World News

Photos: Scenes from the Israel-Gaza War

9:51pm October 15, 2023

The death toll is rising. At least 1,300 Israelis and more than 2,600 Palestinians in Gaza are dead as the war continues into a second week.

World News

Blinken says the crossing to Egypt will open to aid as Israel prepares to strike Gaza

8:06pm October 15, 2023

by Peter Kenyon

Israel's military said that it would continue to allow Gazans to evacuate south as hundreds of thousands had already moved. Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip have killed more than 2,600 Palestinians.