Israel Continues Gaza Military Operations Despite Internatio

 

Sonja Pace

Israeli troops are continuing their controversial military operation in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, despite both international condemnation¹ and domestic criticism. The Gaza operation has prompted calls by some Israelis for an early withdrawal² from Gaza and a resumption of peace talks.

Over the past week images of Israeli bulldozers demolishing⁴ Palestinian homes in the Rafah refugee camp flashed on Israeli television sets, and around the world.

The images resulted in widespread international criticism, even from U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who said the United States opposed the demolitions⁵.

But there were more images to come on Wednesday, showing Palestinian demonstrators in Rafah scattering⁶ amid Israeli shelling, and Palestinians running through the streets carrying the wounded, including children, and rushing them into ambulances. At least eight Palestinians were killed and Israel later apologized for the civilian⁷ deaths.

But, Israeli officials remain adamant⁸ about the overall necessity of the Gaza operation, as Foreign Ministry⁹ spokesman Gideon Meir explained on Israeli television.

“What we are witnessing is terrorist organizations who are using the civilian population and their houses in order to produce explosives, and to use their houses for snipers, and to use their houses at the end of the tunnels where they're smuggling¹⁰ the weapons into the Gaza Strip,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has put forward a plan to unilaterally withdraw all Jewish settlements and the soldiers that protect them from the Gaza Strip. But Israel says the Palestinian Authority has allowed Gaza to become a haven¹¹ for terrorists, and its current offensive appears aimed at ending that - a move that could be a precursor¹² to a withdrawal.

Justice Minister Josef Lapid describes the Rafah operation as the razor's edge.

Mr. Lapid told Israeli radio the political plan to vacate Gaza is justified¹³. He said the war against terror is also justified. But, he added, what is not justified is firing by mistake into a demonstrating crowd and killing¹⁴ civilians¹⁵ like happened on Wednesday.

Mr. Lapid has been a staunch supporter of Mr. Sharon's plan to get out of Gaza.

Incidents last week seem to have increased public support for the plan, too, as well as providing Israel with a justification¹⁶ for its offensive. Clashes between the military and Palestinian militants¹⁷ in Gaza last week resulted in the deaths of 13 Israeli soldiers.

Those clashes prompted a huge pro-peace rally in Tel Aviv last Saturday, in which more than a 100,000 people gathered in support of Mr. Sharon's Gaza withdrawal plan. Many demonstrators also called for the immediate¹⁸ resumption of peace negotiations¹⁹.

Justice Minister Lapid supports that idea.

注释：
outcry [5autkrai] n. 大声疾呼
Israeli [iz5reili] adj. 以色列共和国的
controversial [7kCntrE5vE:FEl] adj. 争论的，争议的
condemnation [7kCndem5neiFEn] n. 谴责，指责
withdrawal [wiT5drC:El] n. 撤退，退回
bulldozer [5buldEuzE] n. 推土机
demolish³ [di5mCliF] vt. 毁坏，推翻
ambulance [5AmbjulEns] n. 救护车
civilian [si5viljEn] adj. 民间的
death [deW] n. 屠杀
adamant [5AdEmEnt] adj. 强硬的
sniper [5snaipE] n. 狙击兵
tunnel [5tQnl] n. 隧道，地道
smuggle²⁰ [5smQ^l] v. 走私
unilaterally [5ju:nilAtErEli] adv. 单方面地
precursor [pri(:)5kE:sE] n. 先驱
razor [5reizE] n. 剃刀
demonstrating [5demEnstreitiN] adj. 示威
staunch [stC:ntF] adj. 坚定的

1 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

2 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

3 demolish   

v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等)

参考例句：

• They're going to demolish that old building.他们将拆毁那座旧建筑物。
• He was helping to demolish an underground garage when part of the roof collapsed.他当时正在帮忙拆除一个地下汽车库，屋顶的一部份突然倒塌。

4 demolishing   

v.摧毁( demolish的现在分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings. 这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。 来自《用法词典》
• Conventional demolishing work would have caused considerable interruptions in traffic. 如果采用一般的拆除方法就要引起交通的严重中断。 来自辞典例句

5 demolitions   

n.毁坏，破坏，拆毁( demolition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Randy Couture as Toll Road, an Expendable and demolitions expert. 大卫·萨亚斯饰演加尔扎将军，邪恶的独裁者。 来自互联网
• Allied Demolitions upgrade moved one slot to the left on the Allied HQ UI. 盟军的爆破升级在指挥部界面中左移一格（由于现在没钳子升级了，所以填钳子的位置）。 来自互联网

6 scattering   

n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散

参考例句：

• The child felle into a rage and began scattering its toys about. 这孩子突发狂怒，把玩具扔得满地都是。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The farmers are scattering seed. 农夫们在播种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

9 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

10 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

11 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

12 precursor   

n.先驱者；前辈；前任；预兆；先兆

参考例句：

• Error is often the precursor of what is correct.错误常常是正确的先导。
• He said that the deal should not be seen as a precursor to a merger.他说该笔交易不应该被看作是合并的前兆。

13 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

14 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

15 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。

16 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

17 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

18 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

19 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

20 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。