VOA常速英语2008年-Israel Accuses Hamas of Fabricating Humanitaria

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
13 April 2008

Israel and militant¹ Palestinian leaders in the Gaza Strip are trading accusations² over an alleged³ fuel shortage. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, the Islamic militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza, is warning of dire⁴ consequences.

At the weekly Cabinet meeting, Israeli ministers blasted accusations by Hamas that Israel is sparking a humanitarian⁵ crisis in the Gaza Strip. Hamas said it will have to shut down Gaza's main power plant if Israel does not resume fuel shipments. Deliveries were suspended last week after a cross-border Palestinian attack on a fuel depot⁶ that killed two Israeli civilians⁷.

Hamas official Taher Alnunu said if Israel does not resume fuel supplies there will be an explosion and the Palestinian people will break the siege by force. That could mean storming the Egyptian border as they did in January, or possibly trying to storm the Israeli border.

An Israeli army spokesman, Major Peter Lerner, says there is plenty of fuel that was already transferred to a depot inside Gaza before supplies were temporarily suspended.

"There is fuel on the Palestinians side still waiting to be picked by the Palestinians. It is about 800,000 liters of diesel⁸ and another 140,000 liters of gasoline," said Lerner.

Lerner told Israel Radio that Hamas is to blame for the suspension of additional supplies.

"They have to first of all ask the question, 'Why do terrorists attack the only fuel depot for Gaza?', these terrorists working under the auspice of Hamas itself," he added.

Hamas said the fuel depot was attacked to protest Israel's crippling blockade on Gaza, which includes reductions in fuel and food supplies. Israel imposed the blockade in response to daily Palestinian rocket attacks, but says it is allowing in enough vital supplies to prevent a humanitarian crisis. Israeli officials say Hamas is fabricating a humanitarian crisis to bring condemnation⁹ on Israel and win international sympathy. 

1 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。

2 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

3 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

4 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

5 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。

6 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

7 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。

8 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

9 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

10 override   

vt.不顾，不理睬，否决；压倒，优先于

参考例句：

• The welfare of a child should always override the wishes of its parents.孩子的幸福安康应该永远比父母的愿望来得更重要。
• I'm applying in advance for the authority to override him.我提前申请当局对他进行否决。

11 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。