2006年VOA标准英语-Violence Escalates in Gaza

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
03 November 2006

Palestinian women march towards the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, Nov. 3, 2006  
  

Two women were killed Friday and about ten others wounded after Israeli troops fired on a group of women acting¹ as human shields to protect Palestinian militants² under siege by Israeli forces in a mosque³ in the Gaza Strip. In a separate incident, Palestinian authorities say four Hamas members were killed in Gaza City when an Israeli missile struck them.

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Gunfire sparked panic as a large group of women marched towards a mosque in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, which Israeli forces entered on Wednesday, as part of a campaign to stop Palestinian militants from launching homemade Qassam rockets at Israel.

The women had answered a call made on a local radio station to gather at the mosque, where a number of Palestinian militants have been under siege for a day by Israeli forces. More than 20 Palestinians, most of them militants have been killed in the fighting in Beit Hanoun. Saeb Erekat a senior Palestinian official told VOA it is time for the international community to intervene in Gaza. 

 
Saeb Erekat (file photo)
  
"The situation in Gaza and in Beit Hanoun especially is very grave," he said. "I was contacted a few minutes ago by the director general of the hospital in Beit Hanoun who told that he has tens of wounded but he has no more water. The situation is deteriorating⁴, there is no infrastructure⁵, no electricity, no water 25 people have been killed and hundreds wounded. I believe the silence of the international in the face of such military escalation⁶ and this massacre⁷ is incomprehensible."

Israeli troops say they are investigating the matter but say their forces fired at armed Palestinians. Major Avital Leibovich, a spokeswoman for the Israeli Defense⁸ Forces told VOA among the women marching toward the mosque were armed gunmen, and Israeli troops were being shot at from the mosque.

"The mosque was unfortunately being used by armed militants from Hamas as a shooting area really towards our forces," she said. "It is really sad to take a holy place and turn it around for military and warfare⁹ needs and this is basically what happened here."

In the confusion surrounding the incident all of the militants hiding in the mosque escaped.

The siege of the mosque began late Thursday after militants retreated to the site after pitched battles with Israeli troops. The Israeli incursion into Beit Hanoun is the largest military operation since Israel withdrew troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip last year. Israel says, since the beginning of this year, Palestinian militants have launched 800 rockets at Israel, with 300 being fired from Beit Hanoun. Despite the large Israeli incursion, Palestinian militants have continued firing rockets - several landed in southern Israel on Friday, wounding two people.

1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

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 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

4 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

5 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

6 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

7 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

8 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。

9 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。