VOA标准英语2008年-At Least 7 Palestinians Killed by Israeli Strik

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
02 January 2008

At least seven Palestinian militants¹ have been killed in the Gaza Strip by an Israeli air strike. VOA's Jim Teeple reports from Jerusalem hundreds of Palestinians stranded² in Egypt after their Haj pilgrimage began returning home, after Egypt opened its border crossing with Gaza.

Israeli authorities say they launched a combined ground and air attack against militants in the northern Gaza Strip after the militants fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli troops in the area.

The armed wing of Hamas threatened retaliation³ for the attack. Israel's Defense⁴ Minister Ehud Barak told Israel radio that Israel's policy of targeted strikes against militants in Gaza is working.

Barak says while Palestinian rocket fire against southern Israel is continuing, Israel's policy of carrying out targeted strikes and raids against the militants is having an impact. He says Israel has no plans to launch a large-scale military operation in Gaza.

Barak spoke⁵ as Gazans returning from the annual Haj pilgrimage began going home, after Egypt opened its border crossing with Gaza. About 3,000 Palestinians had been stranded at the border, after Egypt initially⁶ said they would have to pass through an Israeli crossing point, to return to Gaza.

Israeli officials said they objected to the Egyptian decision to open the border crossing because among the pilgrims were a number of senior Hamas officials carrying large amounts of cash.

Israeli officials have accused Egypt of lax security at the border, saying Egyptian officials have not done enough to stop smuggling⁷ into Gaza from Egypt. Egyptian officials have strongly rejected the Israeli claims.

1 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。

2 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

3 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 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。

6 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

7 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。