Israel declares war on Hamas

Lesson plan overview

This breaking news ESL lesson plan is about the Israel-Hamas war following the surprising attack by Hamas on 7th of October, 2023. The lesson is focused on listening and reading – students will watch a video about the conflict between Israel and Palestine and will read about key events that happened between 7th and 12th of October, 2023. You can also take a look at the worksheet “Phrasal verbs: human rights“.
Speaking: The lesson starts with 4 discussion questions about the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Students discuss what they already know about the situation, the reasons behind the conflict and the key players involved in it.
Listening: Students watch a video called “Why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is so complicated” and complete 3 comprehension activities.
Reading and vocabulary: Students read about key events from the last 5 days and the latest developments on the Israel-Hamas war. Then they complete a word formation activity: they find the correct form of the words given in the text they have just read (civilians, displacement, retaliation, shelling, humanitarian, threat). To practise, students complete 7 sentences with the correct word.
Finally, students discuss how the situation might develop in the future.

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Teacher’s lesson plan

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Student’s worksheet

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Student’s interactive PDF

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Conversation cards PDF

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Pre-class activities

To send the pre-class activities to your students, copy the link below.

https://theenglishflows.com/lesson-plans/israel-declares-war-on-hamas/pre-class-activities/

Vocabulary matching

Pronunciation

The first time you watch the video, pay special attention to the correct pronunciation of the following words:

Palestinians call this the Nakba, or catastrophe, as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled.
In 1967, in what’s known as the Six-Day War, Israel seizes the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights. Israel then went on to occupy thousands of kilometres of Palestinian territory, which the UN says is illegal.
Conditions for Gazans under the blockade are tough.
Hamas, which has a militant wing and a political arm, won democratic elections in 2006, but wouldn’t renounce violence against Israel and was isolated by the international community.