2007年VOA标准英语-Israeli Air Strikes on Gaza Continue as Palesti

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
25 May 2007

Israel has launched another wave of air strikes on the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip, wounding at least 10 people. Palestinian militants¹ responded by firing more rockets across the border. Robert Berger reports from the VOA bureau in Jerusalem.

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Palestinians clean rubble at damaged money changing office following Israeli air strike in Gaza City, 25 May 2007

Israeli aircraft attacked targets of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group across Gaza. The military said the targets included command centers, weapons factories and a money changer. One missile landed near the home of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, but he was not hurt.

The army denied that Mr. Haniyeh was the target, but Israel has threatened to assassinate³ him and other Hamas political and military leaders in response to a wave of Palestinian rocket attacks.

Palestinians have fired more than 160 homemade Qassam rockets at Israel over the past 10 days, and they keep coming despite the air strikes. But Israeli spokesman Mark Regev believes the air campaign is slowly bearing fruit.

"I think the understanding is that by these sort of operations we are limiting and preventing them from launching Qassam rockets against our civilian⁴ population," he said.

Moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who shares power in a coalition⁵ government led by Hamas, condemned⁶ the rocket attacks.

Mr. Abbas described the attacks as "pointless and needless." He said they must be stopped in order reach a ceasefire with Israel.

But Hamas rejected the demand, saying rockets will be fired as long as what it described as "Zionist aggression⁷" continues.

The internal dispute over the rocket attacks underscores the deep differences among Palestinians over how to proceed in the struggle with Israel. The moderates, led by Mr. Abbas, seek a negotiated settlement. But the militants, led by Hamas, believe the only way to achieve a Palestinian state is through jihad, or holy war.

1 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。

2 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

3 assassinate   

vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤

参考例句：

• The police exposed a criminal plot to assassinate the president.警方侦破了一个行刺总统的阴谋。
• A plot to assassinate the banker has been uncovered by the police.暗杀银行家的密谋被警方侦破了。

4 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。

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

7 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。