2006年VOA标准英语-Truce Collapses, Israeli Airstrike Kills Two Pa

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
11 June 2006

Palestinian girl Houda Ghalia, center, during the funeral for her parents and siblings¹ in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, Saturday, June 10, 2006. They were killed by Israeli artillery² shell while on beach pinic Friday   
  
Two Palestinians militants⁴ have been killed and an Israeli civilian⁵ seriously wounded in fighting in and around the Gaza Strip.  It is the most serious outbreak of violence since the Islamic militant³ group, Hamas, took control of the Palestinian Authority 11 weeks ago.

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Hamas militants in Gaza fired rockets at the Israeli border town of Sderot, the second such barrage⁶ in two days. The Hamas military wing ended a 16-month-old truce⁷ on Friday, after eight Palestinian civilians⁸ were killed on a Gaza beach, apparently⁹ by a stray Israeli artillery shell. Hamas said it will continue rocket attacks until Sderot is, in its words, a "ghost town."

The strategy may be working. Sderot residents like Batya Katari accuse the government of failing to protect them, and are threatening to move out.

"The government of Israel has neglected Sderot and sold us out," Katari told Israel Radio. "We do not want to live here," she said.

Palestinian youths look through a hole in the wall after an explosion in a house killed an Islamic Jihad militant in the Jebaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip
Israel responded to the attacks with an air strike, and Palestinians say a group of Hamas militants preparing to fire rockets was hit.

 Moderate Palestinian legislator Saeb Erekat of the Fatah party says it is all too familiar.

"Violence will breed violence, killings¹¹ will just breed more of it and bullets will generate the same. And, we have been there before," he said.

The Israeli army has opened an investigation¹² into the killing¹⁰ of the eight Palestinian civilians, and is trying to determine if an artillery shell went astray and hit a family picnicking on the beach. Commanders say that is a possibility, though there is not enough evidence yet to confirm it. They also say the civilians may have been killed by a Palestinian rocket that went off course.

1 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

2 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

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 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

6 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

7 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。

8 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。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 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。

11 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。