VOA标准英语2008年-Israeli Strike Kills Palestinian Girl, Hamas Mo

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
05 June 2008

Palestinian medics say a young Palestinian girl has been killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip, after an Israeli died in a cross-border mortar¹ attack. Robert Berger in Jerusalem says Israel is considering harsh retaliation².
　

Israeli military and police personnel gather at the scene where a mortar fired by Palestinian militants4 in Gaza killed an Israeli worker at a factory in Nir Oz, southern Israel, Thursday, 05 June 2008

A Palestinian mortar shell fired from the Gaza Strip slammed into an Israeli kibbutz (collective farm), Thursday. It resulted in the second killing⁵ of a kibbutz resident in two weeks.

"The situation is intolerable," said Chaim Yalin, the head of the regional council in the area. He told Israel Radio that Gaza border communities have been bombarded daily for years and the that government and army are doing nothing. He says Israelis are being buried every week and that no one seems to care.

The Islamic militant³ group Hamas, which rules Gaza, claims responsibility for the attack. Hamas issued a statement saying that it would confront what it calls "the occupier," because of what Hamas calls its continuing aggression⁶ against the Palestinian people. Hamas is especially angry about a crippling Israeli blockade on Gaza, imposed in response to the rocket and mortar fire.
　

A Palestinian woman sits outside a family house that was destroyed in an Israeli army operation near Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, 05 June 2008

Israeli Cabinet Minister Roni Bar-On says there is only one solution.

Bar-On told Israel Radio that the army must launch a major offensive in Gaza, to put an end to the Palestinian cross-border attacks. However, the government is reluctant to invade Gaza, fearing high casualties among Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians⁷ and, in turn, international condemnation⁸.

Hamas has offered a ceasefire, but Israel has rejected it. Hamas refuses to renounce⁹ violence or to recognize the Jewish state and Israel fears that the group would use a truce¹⁰ to reg-group and re-arm for the next round of conflict.

1 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。

2 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》

3 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。

4 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。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

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 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。

9 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

10 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。