Teacher's note: The story contains images of Palestinians being buried and mass graves, military action and violent images from Oct 7. The lesson is suited to older high school students. As always, preview the video before showing to your students. The summary contains some updated information.

SUMMARY

Many Palestinians have returned to Khan Younis to search for their dead after Israeli forces withdrew from the city. For more than a week now, they’ve unearthed mass graves at Nasser Hospital where more than 300 hundred bodies were buried. On Tuesday, the UN Human Rights Council said more bodies were found at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

According to the BBC, "Israel's military said claims that it buried bodies there were 'baseless.' 'The claim that the IDF buried Palestinian bodies is baseless and unfounded,' the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) said in a statement. 'During the IDF’s operation in the area of Nasser Hospital, in accordance to the effort to locate hostages and missing persons, corpses buried by Palestinians in the area of Nasser Hospital were examined.'"

According to the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service, around 2,000 people are still missing under the rubble. But the pain for Palestinians stretches across the entire Gaza Strip. In Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, over the weekend families mourned the death of loved ones after two Israeli strikes killed at least 22 people, mostly children.

View the transcript of the story.

News alternative: Check out recent segments from the NewsHour, and choose the story you’re most interested in watching. You can make a Google doc copy of discussion questions that work for any of the stories here.

WARM-UP QUESTIONS

1. Who are the individuals and groups featured in this story?
2. Where were the mass graves of Palestinian bodies found?
3. Where is Khan Younis? Where are Nasser Hospital and al-Shifa Hospitals located? (see map)
4. Why did Major General Aharon Haliva, Israel's top military intelligence chief, resign?
5. When did Hamas militants attack communities in Israel killing an estimated 1,200 people, including more than 300 soldiers and kidnapping 253 Israelis?

FOCUS QUESTIONS

1. What do you think the U.S. government's response should be to the discovery of mass graves at the hospitals in Gaza?
2. It is understandable to be upset after watching this story and other stories that involve war and violence. Be sure to talk with your teacher, school counselor, administrator or a family member about how you are feeling. Who else could you talk with about how you are feeling? (This resource by Common Sense Media may be helpful to educators and parents.)

Media literacy:

1. What additional questions do you have have after watching this story?
2. The story mentions that Secretary of State Antony Blinken's rejected claims that the U.S. has a double-standard when it comes to international law and Israel. Broadcast stories are often limited when it comes to the time they can expand on a subject. How could you find out more about this part of the story?

Alternative: See, Think, Wonder: What did you notice? What did the story make you think? What would you like to learn more about?

FOR MORE

What students can do:

Learn about the history of human rights work by checking out the resources of the Human Rights Educators (HRE) alliance with a friend or neighbor. Several organizations make up HRE's alliance, including Generation Human Rights whose mission includes "Empowering youth globally to chart a world free of human rights abuse." Read more about "GenHR Youth Changemakers here.

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