2006年VOA标准英语-Israel's Olmert Says No Timeframe on Gaza Offen

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
05 November 2006

Palestinian women mourn during funeral of brothers Ayman and Raed Yassin in Beit Lahia, November 4, 2006   
  
Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, on Sunday said the military operation in Gaza is not open-ended, but he refused to say when the offensive will end. More than 40 Palestinians, most of them militants², and one Israeli soldier have been killed since Israel's expanded military operation began last week. U.N. officials are warning of a worsening humanitarian³ situation in the northern Gaza Strip.

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Israel continued its military operations Sunday in and around the town of Beit Hanoun. Israeli aircraft carried out missile strikes in the area, but Palestinian militants continued to fire their homemade Qassam rockets at towns in southern Israel, nearly a week after Israeli forces began a large military operation to halt the attacks.

Speaking as his cabinet met on Sunday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel hopes to diminish the threat of the Qassams, and that the operation around Beit Hanoun in not open-ended. 

An elderly Palestinian woman wounded during an Israeli incursion is carried into the hospital in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya Saturday, Nov. 4, 2006  
  
Mr. Olmert says Israel intends to stop what he describes as the terror coming from Gaza, but has no intention of reoccupying the territory.

Israeli military authorities expressed regret for the death of a 12-year old girl on Saturday. She was shot by an Israeli sniper who Israeli authorities say was aiming at a Palestinian militant¹. On Friday, two Palestinian women were killed by Israeli troops in a chaotic⁴ demonstration⁵ by Palestinian women acting⁶ as human shields for Palestinian militants. The militants escaped from a mosque⁷ in Beit Hanoun that was under siege by Israeli forces. John Ging, the director of the Gaza office of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in Gaza City, says after nearly a week of Israeli military operations, the situation in Beit Hanoun is rapidly deteriorating⁸.

"The words that I am using to describe the situation are death, destruction and despair. So many people have been killed and injured in the last couple of days, including six children and two paramedics," he said. "So the situation is extremely dangerous. The despair comes from within the minds of the population who have endured a lot over the last period and now this is adding to their woes⁹."

Israel's military says it is working to ensure that food and medical supplies reach areas affected¹⁰ by the fighting and that the wounded can be evacuated¹¹. Israeli military authorities say over 300 Qassam rockets have been launched from Beit Hanoun since the beginning of this year out of a total of about 800 launched from the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has appealed to the U.N. Security Council to stop the Israeli military incursion. U.S. officials say Israel has the right to defend itself from attacks but have urged Israeli officials to ease restrictions¹² on Gaza crossing points to allow increased humanitarian assistance to reach Palestinians.

One Palestinian militant group, the Popular Resistance Committees, has threatened to resume suicide bombings in Israel if the military operation in Beit Hanoun is not stopped soon. Israeli officials have not commented publicly on the threat.

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 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。

4 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

5 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

11 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

12 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制