2006年VOA标准英语-Lebanon Truce Holds For Second Day

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
15 August 2006
 
watch Truce¹ report

Israeli army commanders say that starting Wednesday, they will begin moving some troops back from positions they have captured in Lebanon in the past month of fighting Hezbollah. The U.N.-mediated truce in Lebanon is now in its second day with few violations² reported.

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Defense3 worker searches for bodies in rubble4 of apartment building bombed by Israeli army in southern Beirut suburb " src="/upimg/allimg/070416/1357020.jpg" width="210" border="0" /> Lebanese Civil Defense worker searches for bodies in rubble of apartment building bombed by Israeli army in southern Beirut suburb

Israeli military authorities say they hope to complete the withdrawal⁵ of troops from Lebanon by the end of next week.

Brigadier-General Shuki Shahur, the deputy chief of Israel's Northern Command says Israeli military units inside Lebanon are preparing to handover positions to U.N. troops, and possibly Lebanese army units, starting Wednesday.

Shahur says by the end of this week, Israel plans to demobilize tens of thousands of reserve troops called up in the largest mobilization in years.

The development came on the second day of the U.N.-mediated truce between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants⁶ in Lebanon after more than a month of fighting. Despite sporadic⁷ mortar⁸ and rocket fire against Israeli forces still inside Lebanon, Israel says the truce is holding.

Israeli officials say they will keep their air and sea blockade of Lebanon in place - to stop weapons shipments to Hezbollah - until international peacekeepers arrive. Israeli officials also criticized remarks made by Syria's President Bashar Assad who called the fighting in Lebanon a failure for Israel and its allies. Israeli Foreign Ministry⁹ Tzipi Livni warned Syria not to try to use its Hezbollah allies to influence the government of Lebanon.

Tens of thousands of Israelis began returning to northern towns after Hezbollah rocket attacks stopped due to the cease-fire. But there is growing criticism of Prime Minister Olmert's conduct of the war - especially from right-wing Israeli politicians like Effi Eitan of the National Religious Party who say the conflict did not achieve its aim of destroying Hezbollah as a fighting force.

"I cannot hide the deep feeling of frustration¹⁰ and disappointment from what has been achieved with a very high cost of lives lost until now," he said. "There will be a moment when this government will have to answer very tough questions. I think morally it has come to the end of its credentials¹¹."

Israel's prime minister has defended the Lebanon operation, saying it achieved its aim of eliminating Hezbollah's state within a state and largely destroyed the terrorist group's supply of weaponry. Israel's defense minister has also said a military commission will investigate how the operation in Lebanon was conducted.

1 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

2 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

5 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。

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 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

8 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

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 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

11 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。