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On the web at theshmit.org.

Hi, this is Yuki from Santa Fe, New Mexico, where my 19-year-old son, Ren, just found out that he was accepted

at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. So after living in Tanzania for two years, attending

the United World College East Africa, he will head off again for more education and adventure

abroad.

This podcast was recorded at 12.54 p.m. on Wednesday, July 30th, 2025.

Things may have changed by the time you listen to this podcast, but I'll hopefully be able to control my motherly blubbering when my son leaves for university.

Okay, here's the show.

Franco has some Scotland regs for you. Congrats to Rand. I was just there. It is gorgeous. And Mama Yuki will have a great time going to visit. There you go. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast.

I'm Dipa Shiveram. I cover the White House. I'm Frank Oudonias. I also cover the White House. And joining us today is NPR Middle East correspondent, Aya Batrawi. Welcome to the politics podcast, Aya. Hi. All right. So today on the show, we're talking about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We have all seen horrific pictures of people

struggling to get food, access to aid in Gaza. And let's just start there. I mean, why has it

been so difficult to get food and aid to people who are in the Gaza Strip?

It really comes down to political will. I mean, there are, you know, tons of food aid waiting just across the border from Gaza. This is not a place that is remote, difficult to get to. It has borders with Egypt, borders with Israel, and borders with the Mediterranean Sea. There's tons of food aid sitting in warehouses in Jordan and in Egypt, across the border waiting to get into Gaza.

Now, you know, we did see for two months earlier this year when there was a ceasefire that aid

is able to flow into Gaza pretty quickly and easily. But what we've seen for two months after

that ceasefire was a total and complete blockade by Israel, a political decision to pressure

Hamas, they said, in order to try to

get them to agree to their terms of a ceasefire, a temporary deal. And nothing entered Gaza. And

you know, aid groups and countries around the world described us as collective punishment.

So what we're seeing now on the ground has been a long time coming. And even though Israel did slightly ease

some of those restrictions by allowing in some aid, you know, the United Nations describes

...