VOA新闻杂志2024--Egypt Threatens to Suspend Peace Treaty with Israel

Egypt Threatens to Suspend Peace Treaty with Israel

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed a peace deal in 1979. The agreement, marked by a handshake, has resulted in more than 40 years of peace between Middle East neighbors Israel and Egypt.

That peace agreement has held up through two Palestinian uprisings and several wars between Israel and Hamas. But the Egyptian government is threatening to suspend the agreement as Israel plans to send troops into Rafah, a city in Gaza on the border with Egypt.

Israel-Egypt peace treaty

In 1977, Begin, Israel's new prime minister was opposed to giving back any land captured by Israel 10 years earlier in the 1967 war. Those lands included Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

Egypt and Israel had fought four major wars, most recently in 1973. However, Egypt's Sadat broke with other Arab leaders and decided¹ to talk with the Israelis. The talks resulted in the Camp David Accords in September 1978 and a peace treaty the following year.

Under the peace treaty, Israel agreed to withdraw from the Sinai, which Egypt would leave demilitarized. Israeli ships were granted passage through the Suez Canal, an important trade pathway. The countries established full diplomatic relations. It was Israel's first peace agreement with an Arab country since the country's establishment in 1948.

Paige Alexander is head of the Carter Center. She said, "The Camp David Accords were led by three brave men who took a bold stance because they knew the lasting³ effects for peace and security, both then and for the future. We need the same kind of leadership today, and that is currently lacking."

What is Egypt's position?

On Sunday, two Egyptian officials and a Western diplomat² told The Associated Press that Egypt might suspend the peace treaty if Israeli troops enter Rafah.

Last October, Hamas launched a surprise attack from the Palestinian territory of Gaza into southern Israel. The terrorist group killed more than 1,200 people and took more than 150 hostages including Americans.

Israel answered with airstrikes and ground attacks in Gaza. The Palestinian-controlled health ministry⁴ reported in February that 28,000 people have been killed in more than four months of fighting. The number, which is not confirmed, includes both civilians⁵ and militants⁷.

Israel says Rafah is the last area under Hamas control. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said sending ground troops into Rafah is needed to defeat the group.

However, Egypt opposes any move that could send desperate Palestinians fleeing across the border into its territory. Rafah serves as the main entry point into Gaza for humanitarian⁸ aid. An Israeli attack could prevent deliveries of supplies to Palestinians in Gaza.

Rafah's population has expanded from 280,000 people to an estimated 1.4 million as Palestinians flee fighting in other parts of Gaza. Hundreds of thousands of those evacuees¹⁰ are now living in tents.

Netanyahu has ordered the Israeli military to prepare a plan to evacuate¹¹ all Palestinian civilians before the offensive starts. But it is unclear where they will go.

Netanyahu said Sunday that Palestinians would be able to return to open spaces in northern Gaza. But those areas have been badly damaged by the Israeli offensive.

What happens if the peace treaty ends?

The treaty between Egypt and Israel limits the number of troops on both sides of the border. The countries, however, have agreed in the past to make changes to deal with security threats.

In addition to Gaza, Israel has engaged in regular exchanges of weapons fire with the Hezbollah militant⁶ group in Lebanon. Israeli forces are also deployed¹³ in the occupied West Bank.

If Egypt were to end the agreement, Israel would have to deploy¹² more troops to protect its southern border with Egypt.

Such a move, however, would affect Egypt as well.

Since the peace agreement, Egypt has received billions of dollars in military assistance from the U.S. If the agreement is ended, it could threaten that aid while Egypt's economy is struggling.

The war between Hamas and Israel has already spread to the Red Sea where Yemen's Houthi rebels regularly attack commercial shipping¹⁴.

In Jordan, militants, supported by Iran, struck an American position with a drone last month killing¹⁵ three U.S. service members. The U.S. answered with several major strikes against militants in Iraq and Syria.

Alexander from the Carter Center said any step that could draw Egypt into the hostilities¹⁶ "would be catastrophic for the entire region."

Words in This Story

bold –adj. unafraid, willing to do something that is difficult

delivery –n. the act of taking something to a person or group that requested it

evacuee⁹ –n. a person who has been evacuated¹⁷ from a place, meaning they have been moved for their safety because of a dangerous situation

engage –v. to be involved in a process that requires action and attention

commercial –adj. related to trade and business activity with an aim to make a profit

drone –n. a vehicle that operates without a human pilot onboard often an aircraft or boat

catastrophic –adj. disastrous¹⁸, something that is extremely bad

region –n. an area of the Earth that is know for certain qualities such as its geological, geographical, or political boundaries

1 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。

2 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

3 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

4 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。

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 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。

7 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。

8 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

9 evacuee   

n.被疏散的人员，被撤走的人员

参考例句：

• A woman sits motionless at an evacuee center for leaked radiation from the damaged fukushima nuclear facilities friday march 25 2011 in soma fukushima prefecture japan.2011年3月25日星期五，日本福岛县相马市，为福岛核设施泄露而设立的避难中心里，一位妇女一动不动地坐在那里。
• Not quite true,said Tom,a 42-year-old evacuee.但汤姆，一位42岁的避难者，说事实不尽然如此。

10 evacuees   

n.被疏散者( evacuee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Moreover, for multi-exits, evacuees select a exit based on game theory. 在有多个出口时，疏散人员根据对策论选择出口。 来自互联网
• Evacuees wade through flooded area following heavy monsoon rains in Peshawar on Saturday, July 31, 2010. 撤离灾区涉水通过后在白沙瓦沉重的季风降雨在周六，2010年7月31日。 来自互联网

11 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

12 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

13 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

14 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

15 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。

16 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

17 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

18 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。