WASHINGTON, D.C. — Oct. 12, 2026 — NPR's Anas Baba has won the Radio Prize at the Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award for War Correspondents for "Recovering the dead in Gaza," his reporting on a family searching the rubble for loved ones killed in one of the deadliest strikes of the Gaza war. His father and his sister accepted the award in France on his behalf.
The story documents a three-day recovery mission in Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza, nearly a year and a half after an Israeli strike decimated a five-story apartment building – killing more than 132 members of the extended Abu Naser family.
In a statement, Anas Baba said: "First and foremost, this award belongs to the Abu Naser family. Their unbearable loss, their resilience, and their determination to recover their loved ones from the rubble are at the heart of this story. They are not numbers in a report. They are a family forced to do what no family should ever have to do: search through the ruins of their own lives for the people they love. This honor today belongs to NPR, and to every person who works for NPR."
Now in its 33rd year, the Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award for War Correspondents is a prestigious international journalism award recognizing outstanding reporting from conflict zones. Held annually in Bayeux, France, since 1994 the awards honor journalists whose work documents the realities of war, elevates the voices of those affected by conflict, and champions press freedom.
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