Powell Says Israeli Offensive in Gaza Should Be 'Proportiona

 

By David Gollust
 
Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday he hopes Israel's current military offensive in Gaza aimed at quelling² rocket attacks will be proportionate to the threat that country faces, and will be concluded soon. He spoke³ to reporters en route to Brazil.
Mr. Powell did not criticize Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for launching the Gaza offensive, aimed at stopping Palestinian rocket attacks against Israeli towns. But in an airborne news conference on the flight to Brazil, the secretary echoed an appeal for Israeli restraint by a State Department spokesman last week, and said he hopes the operation will not be expanded and will be concluded quickly:
"The immediate⁴ problem right now is that Israeli built-up areas are being hit by rockets, and Mr. Sharon finds a need to respond to that," he said. "I hope it does not expand, and I hope that whatever he does is proportionate to the threat that Israel is facing, and I hope that this operation can come to a conclusion quickly."
Mr. Powell declined under questioning to specify⁵ what he would consider a proportionate response to the rocket firings, or to predict when the Israeli drive in Gaza might end, saying it will end when Prime Minister Sharon "feels he has dealt with the threat."
He also said he does not believe the operation necessarily contradicts Mr. Sharon's planned "disengagement" from Gaza, and hopes that process will go forward as planned to include four West Bank settlements and revive peace efforts under the international "Road Map."
David Gollust, VOA News, Sao Paulo.
注释：
quell¹ 镇压
en route to 在……途中
contradict 同...矛盾, 同...抵触
disengagement 脱离
go forward 前进

 

1 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

2 quelling   

v.（用武力）制止，结束，镇压( quell的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Quelling her grief, she said 'Good-bye! 'again and went on. 她把悲痛压下去，二番说了一声再见，又转身走去了。 来自辞典例句
• The police succeeded in quelling the riot. 警方把暴乱镇压了下去。 来自辞典例句

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 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。

5 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。