Israel Threatens to Step-up Airstrikes, Demolish Hundreds of

 

Ross Dunn

Israeli officials say they plan to increase military operations in the Gaza Strip, including renewed house demolitions² and intensive air strikes. The decision came in cabinet made in Sunday shortly after Israel's Supreme³ Court gave the army permission to resume demolishing⁴ homes in order to broaden an Israeli security zone along the Gaza-Egypt border. The head of Israel's army, General Moshe Ya'alon, told the cabinet it might be necessary to destroy hundreds of Palestinian homes in the Rafah refugee camp in order to improve security. Five Israeli soldiers were killed in the area last week by a roadside bomb.

Israel says militants⁶ use homes near the security zone to launch such attacks and to smuggle⁷ weapons from Egypt.

Earlier, Israel's Supreme Court rejected an appeal against the demolitions. The court said the army is entitled to carry out the demolitions in the name of self-defense. U.N. officials say the operation has so far left a thousand Palestinians homeless.

General Ya'alon says the renewed home demolitions will be part of intensified⁸ military operations in Gaza, including air-strikes. He says the attacks will focus on Palestinian armed groups, which he says are planning to launch more attacks against troops in the territory.

The general says some of these groups are trying to smuggle long-range Katyusha rockets into Gaza from neighboring Egypt, and to use them to launch attacks from Gaza against targets inside Israel.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking at a regional conference in Jordan Sunday, urged Israel and the Palestinians to break their cycle of violence.

"The United States is anxious to do everything it can to stop this cycle of strike and counter-strike which has resulted in the loss of so many lives within the last week."

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon told his cabinet he has asked Egypt for assistance to help restore calm in southern Gaza.

Mr. Sharon said Israel is holding discussions with Egypt to modify their peace treaty to allow more Egyptian troops to be deployed⁹ along the border with Gaza.

He says Israel wants Egyptian troops to help stop the flow of arms and explosives across the border to Palestinian militant⁵ groups.

注释:
Gaza Strip 加沙地带
demolition¹ [7demE5liFEn] n. 毁坏的遗迹
air strike 空袭
resume [ri5zju:m] v. 修复
Moshe Ya'alon （人名）摩西·亚阿隆
smuggle [5smQ^l] v. 走私
Katyusha [kB:5tFU:FB:] n. 苏联的"喀秋莎"火箭炮
Jordan [5dVC:dn] n. 约旦（位于西南亚的国家）
modify [5mCdifai] v. 修正

1 demolition   

n.破坏,毁坏,毁坏之遗迹

参考例句：

• The church has been threatened with demolition for years. 这座教堂多年来一直面临拆毀的威胁。
• The project required the total demolition of the old bridge. 该项目要求将老桥完全拆毁。

2 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

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

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 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。

6 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。

7 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。

8 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。