NewsTracker Answers for week of Aug. 05, 2024

Q: The bombing deaths of two top Palestinian leaders in the capitals of Lebanon and Iran last week raised fears that Israel’s fighting in Gaza could expand into a much more serious regional war. Where are the countries of Iran, Lebanon, and Israel in the Middle East?

Circle the area on this map

Q: The United States said it would deploy additional warships and fighter jets to the Middle East as Iran threatened Israel with "harsh punishment" for the killing of the top leader of which militant Palestinian group backed by Iran?

A. Hamas

B. Hezbollah

A. Just after meeting with Iran's new president, the political leader of Hamas died in an explosion at a government guest house in Tehran. The New York Times reported that a bomb was planted in the heavily guarded building at least two months ago and was remotely detonated when the Hamas leader was known to be in the targeted room

Q: The Iran attack followed an Israeli air strike that killed a senior Hezbollah military commander in Beirut, Lebanon. Israel blamed the Hezbollah leader for a rocket attack that killed 12 children and young people in what Israeli-occupied territory in northern Israel?

A. Gaza Strip

B. Golan Heights

C. West Bank

B. The Golan Heights, which Israel has officially annexed, was seized during the Six-Day War in 1967. In that war, Israel took the Golan Heights from Syrian forces, the West Bank from Jordanian troops, and the Gaza Strip from Egyptian fighters. Israel is now fighting Hamas in Gaza, and it has been trading rocket fire with Hezbollah across the border with Lebanon.

Q: Iran reportedly arrested dozens of people after the embarrassing guesthouse bombing and the nation’s “supreme leader” ordered an attack on Israel. It could be more intense than an April attack that came in response to an Israeli bombing that killed two Iranian generals in which Mideastern capital?

A. Baghdad

B. Cairo

C. Damascus

D. Riyadh

C. Israel bombed an Iranian building in its diplomatic complex in Damascus, Syria, killing the generals and 14 others including members of Iran-backed militias. Twelve days later, Iran launched more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel. Nearly all were shot down by Israel with help from U.S., British, French and Jordanian forces.

Q: The death of the Hamas leader could end negotiations for a cease-fire in the 10-month Gaza war that has killed more than 40,000 people, according to the United Nations. Which U.S. ally has talked about intervening in Gaza?

A. Canada

B. Hungar

C. Sweden

D. Turkey

D. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last month there “there is no reason” his country could not intervene militarily in Gaza as it has in other countries. Israel and Turkey have traded harsh rhetoric during the Gaza war, but it was the first time intervention was mentioned. Turkey is a member of the NATO alliance with the United States and 30 other nations.