2006年VOA标准英语-6 Palestinians Killed in Israeli Air Strike in

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
12 October 2006

Six Palestinians, including four militants², have been killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip. The raid is part of the background of Israeli efforts to free a soldier kidnapped by Palestinian gunmen in June.

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Relatives of Palestinian boy Sohaeb Qdeh, 13, mourn near his body following an Israeli air strike in Abbassan, near Khan Yunis, in the Gaza Strip, early 12 October 2006

An Israeli drone fired two missiles at Palestinian militants in the village of Abasan in southern Gaza. Palestinian officials say four gunmen from the ruling Islamic militant¹ group Hamas were killed along with a teenage bystander.

The army said it fired at a group of gunmen in an area known for weapons smuggling³ near the Egyptian border.

The military wing of Hamas responded to the raid by firing six rockets into Israel. No one was hurt.

Israel has launched almost daily raids in Gaza, since Hamas gunmen kidnapped an Israeli soldier more than three months ago in a cross-border attack. Publicly, Israel has rejected Hamas demands to exchange the captive soldier for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

"If we succumb⁴ to the hostage demands, to these ransom⁵ demands, then essentially⁶ we are succumbing⁷ to terrorism and tomorrow morning we will wake up and we will see that more soldiers are abducted," said Israeli spokeswoman Miri Eisen.

At the same time, Israeli officials acknowledge that Egypt is mediating⁸ a possible prisoner swap⁹.

Palestinian analyst¹⁰ Wadia Abu Nasser says Israel, Arab moderates and the international community are backing the Egyptian effort.

"There is a great pressure on the Egyptians to move with this exchange deal as soon as possible in order to ban radical¹¹ militants from causing further obstacles," he said.

Israeli and Arab media say Israel is prepared to release at least 800 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the captive soldier. But Hamas is holding out for a higher price. Despite a flurry of reports that a swap is imminent¹², the sides have been unable to close the deal.

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 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。

3 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。

4 succumb   

v.屈服，屈从；死

参考例句：

• They will never succumb to the enemies.他们决不向敌人屈服。
• Will business leaders succumb to these ideas?商业领袖们会被这些观点折服吗？

5 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 succumbing   

不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的现在分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死

参考例句：

• Mrs. Smith washed and ironed clothes for him, succumbing to him. 史密斯太太被他迷住了，愿意为他洗衣烫衣。
• They would not in the end abandon their vital interests by succumbing to Soviet blandishment. 他们最终决不会受苏联人的甜言蜜语的诱惑，从而抛弃自己的切身利益。

8 mediating   

调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的现在分词 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生

参考例句：

• So many factors are mediating. 如此众多的因素在起作用。
• The contrast in mediating noted in the sitting room. 客厅中注重了调和中的对比。

9 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

10 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

11 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

12 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。