Allies Urge Restraint as Iran Strikes Israel in Response to Killing of Top Officials in Syria
Ask students: When did Israel attack the consulate killing top military officials? When did Iran conduct their retaliatory strike?
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April 17, 2024
Ask students: When did Israel attack the consulate killing top military officials? When did Iran conduct their retaliatory strike?
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Tensions remain high in the Middle East as Israel says it will respond to Iran's barrage of drones over the weekend. President Biden said while the U.S. commitment to Israel is unwavering, the administration would not support a retaliatory strike. Iran's attack on Israel was in response to an Israeli airstrike earlier this month on Iran's consulate in Damascus, Syria, which killed several top officials.
On March 29, Israeli strikes in Syria killed at least 44 people, including 38 soldiers and seven members of Hezbollah, as well as civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
These types of airstrikes have escalated since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas. According to the Associated Press, "Though it rarely acknowledges its actions in Syria, Israel has said it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups such as Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces."
View the transcript of the story.
Do you agree with the Biden administration as to whether or not Israel should attack Iran in response to Israel's attack? Explain.
Media literacy: News outlets often identify if a think tank is conservative or liberal. Do you think news outlets should make this standard practice? Do you think the NewsHour should have done this when introducing the Washington Institute for Near East Policy? How could you find out more about this organization as well as SAIS (Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies)?
Sharpening media literacy skills is always useful! NewsHour Classroom advisor Syd Golston (ret. school administrator, teacher, author) created this short activity based on CBS' national newscast from April 15, 2024. Golston wrote down the the stories in order of coverage, which in the news business implies importance. Take a look at the order of stories, and answer the questions below:
How do you think the importance of these stories (based on order of when they are covered) might be different on Fox or MSNBC? PBS NewsHour? Find out by checking the newscasts!
Republished with permission from PBS NewsHour Classroom.