美国国家公共电台 NPR--Israel targeted airstrikes in densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip

Israel targeted airstrikes in densely¹ populated areas of the Gaza Strip

Transcript²

Israel launched a series of airstrikes on Gaza Tuesday — targeting the Islamic Jihad. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Dov Lieber of The Wall Street Journal.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Israeli airstrikes on Gaza continue today. The army says it targeted Islamic Jihad operatives at a rocket launch site. Palestinian health officials say that an earlier round of strikes killed at least 15 people, including women and children. These strikes come, according to Israel, in response to recent attacks on them. Dov Lieber covers Israel and the Palestinian territories for The Wall Street Journal. He is in Tel Aviv.

Welcome to the program.

DOV LIEBER: Thank you for having me, Steve.

INSKEEP: And I just want to remember the basics here. Gaza is a crowded Palestinian zone surrounded by Israeli fences and walls. So where in that area are these Israeli airstrikes hitting?

LIEBER: Yesterday, they took place - some in Gaza City and some in a town in the south called Rafah. The one in Gaza City took place in one of the most crowded - densely crowded neighborhoods in Gaza. It struck some 6- or 7-floor-sized building.

INSKEEP: OK, so hitting an urban area. And as I understand it, the Israeli military has acknowledged some collateral³ damage, as the phrase goes, which tends to mean civilian⁴ casualties. Is it clear to you there have been civilian casualties?

LIEBER: That's correct. Both sides - Israeli officials acknowledge that civilians⁵ were killed. In fact, the majority - as you said at the beginning of this piece, that the majority of people killed by the strikes were civilians, 12 out of 15. In fact, Israeli officials knew that family members, including the wives and some of the children of these Islamic Jihad commanders, would be there when they killed them. They decided⁶ to carry out the operation anyway. According to them, they have held off assassinating⁷ these figures in the past because they were worried about too much civilian damage. And this time, they believe that this is considered a proportional response to the threat that those Islamic Jihad commanders posed to Israeli civilians.

INSKEEP: I want to understand how Islamic Jihad fits into the broader picture here. The Gaza Strip, the Gaza area is controlled by Hamas, a Palestinian group. Islamic Jihad is there, but separate. Who are they, and what are they doing, and what do they want?

LIEBER: That's correct. Islamic Jihad is the second- or potentially the first-biggest militant⁸ group in the Gaza Strip. And for many years, we saw Israel squaring off mainly with Hamas, and Islamic Jihad kind of in the background. But what we've seen in the last few years is a kind of reverse of this. Hamas is the governing body of Gaza. It has to control the population, and it is responsible for the population. Islamic Jihad is not. It doesn't govern there. It receives guns, money and weapons from Iran, just like Hamas does.

But Islamic Jihad doesn't have the same kind of responsibility towards the people who live in Gaza. And because of this, Israeli strategy has been to force Hamas to balance the economic benefits of fighting Israel for the people who live in Gaza. And Hamas, you know, it doesn't want to anger the civilians who live there. But Islamic Jihad is not the same situation. So what we've seen in the past two years really is Israel squaring off with Islamic Jihad and trying to keep Hamas out of the equation. In fact, one of the big questions today really is whether Hamas will finally rejoin the fray⁹, and when Islamic Jihad retaliates¹⁰, will Hamas join them as well?

INSKEEP: Dov Lieber covers Israel and the Palestinian territories for The Wall Street Journal. Really appreciate your insights.

Thanks so much.

LIEBER: Thank you for having me.

1 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

4 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 assassinating   

v.暗杀( assassinate的现在分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• They struck a blow for freedom by assassinating the colonial governor. 他们为了自由而奋力一博，暗杀了那位殖民地总督。 来自互联网

8 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

9 fray   

v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗

参考例句：

• Why should you get involved in their fray?你为什么要介入他们的争吵呢？
• Tempers began to fray in the hot weather.大热天脾气烦燥。

10 retaliates   

v.报复，反击( retaliate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Lincoln suggests Si Tan pauses, the letter that writes acrimonious of a content retaliates that fellow. 林肯建议斯坦顿，写一封内容尖刻的信回敬那家伙。 来自互联网
• If it does not, and the US imposes tariffs and China retaliates, what then? 如果它不让步，而美国开征关税，中国加以报复，接下来会怎样？ 来自互联网