2006年VOA标准英语-Airstrikes, Fighting Continue in Lebanon, as Se

By Margaret Besheer
Beirut
06 August 2006
 
Israeli aircraft continued strikes across south Lebanon early Sunday and ground battles raged between Israeli and Hezbollah forces inside the Lebanese border. Lebanese officials report at least 15 people killed. In Israel, 11 soldiers were killed, when Hezbollah launched a rocket attack on a northern border town. 

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Lebanese officials say the casualties from the latest Israeli air strikes were in the southern villages of Ansar and Naqoura, where civilians¹ were killed when their houses were struck by Israeli missiles. Heavy shelling was also reported in the eastern Bekaa Valley and around the Litani River. At least one Lebanese soldier was killed and another was wounded when their checkpoint in the town of Mansouri was hit in an Israeli airstrike.

Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces clashed in several villages close to the border, as Israel sought to advance deeper inside Lebanese territory on the 26th day of hostilities².

Meanwhile, south of the city of Tyre, the United Nations says three Chinese peacekeepers were injured when a mortar³ round apparently⁴ fired by Hezbollah militants⁵ slammed into their headquarters.

International efforts to halt the fighting are continuing in New York, where the United Nations Security Council is getting closer to agreeing on the language of a resolution aimed at halting large scale attacks.

But Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, whose Shi'ite Amal movement is aligned⁶ with Hezbollah, told reporters Sunday the draft resolution is unacceptable because it would allow Israeli forces to remain on Lebanese soil.

Berri says, "Lebanon, all of Lebanon, rejects any talks and or any draft resolution that does not include the seven-point government framework." That seven-point plan was presented by the Lebanese government last week, and calls for, among other things, an immediate⁷ ceasefire and the immediate withdrawal⁸ of Israeli troops.

Syria's foreign minister, Walid Mouallem, was in Lebanon Sunday for the first time since Damascus withdrew its forces from the country 15 months ago, after a nearly 30-year presence.

He told reporters Syria does not support the draft resolution being circulated by the United States and France, and Damascus joins Lebanon in rejecting it.

He echoed Lebanese demands, saying, in order for the violence to stop, there must be an immediate ceasefire and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon.

At President Bush's ranch⁹ in Crawford Texas, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters, the draft resolution does not anticipate a complete Israeli withdrawal in the first phase. But she said it is a good basis for ending large-scale violence.

1 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。

2 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

9 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。