VOA标准英语2008年-Statement on Gaza Stalls in UN Security Council

By Margaret Besheer
United Nations
23 January 2008

Following a day of debate, the U.N. Security Council could not agree on language for a statement condemning¹ the deterioration² of the situation in the Gaza Strip. From U.N. headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.

The draft statement circulating among the 15-member council expresses concern about "the steep deterioration of the humanitarian³ situation" in Gaza due to Israel's continued closure of all border crossings, and the cutting of electricity and reduction of fuel to the Palestinian territory's one and a half million residents. But it fails to mention the hundreds of rockets Hamas militants⁴ have fired into southern Israel in the last week.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said he could not support the Libyan-authored draft as it stands.

"As is, it is not acceptable,"said Zalmay Khalilzad. "Many other colleagues have spoken also in the council that it does not talk about the rocket attacks, the attacks on innocent Israelis."

Libya's U.N. Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi, who is also the Security Council's president this month, told reporters following the marathon session that the council would meet again Wednesday afternoon to discuss a revised draft and hopefully it would be adopted. Passage of the non-binding text requires approval by all 15 council members.

"It was circulated to the members late last night so some of them have expressed that they need to refer to their capitals, but I think most of them are accepting the draft as a base of discussions," said Giadalla Ettalhi.

The U.N.'s political chief, Lynn Pascoe, told the council that the situation in Gaza and southern Israel has escalated⁵ dramatically since the 15 of January, when an Israeli air and ground offensive killed 19 Palestinians, most of them militants. The offensive was in response to rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel.

Pascoe says 42 Palestinians have been killed and more than 100 injured in Israeli military operations in the past week.

"Among the dead are a number of Palestinian civilians⁶, who have been killed in ground battles between the IDF [Israeli Defense⁷ Forces] and militants and in Israeli air strikes and targeted killing⁸ operations," said Lynn Pascoe.

He noted⁹ that rockets launched from Gaza have injured 11 Israelis and a Palestinian sniper killed an Ecuadorian laborer¹⁰ on an Israeli kibbutz.

The Palestinian and Israeli envoys¹¹ traded blame over the situation.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. Observer, criticized Israel's blockade as a form of collective punishment, and urged the Council to take action to press Israel to reopen the border and ease other restrictions¹². While Israel's delegate, Gilad Cohen, said the situation in Gaza did not develop overnight, but was the result of what he said were "wrong choices" the Palestinians have made to adopt terrorism and violence over peace and negotiations¹³ with Israel. He said Israel faces an "impossible situation" but would protect its citizens from these rocket attacks.

1 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

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 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 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 laborer   

n.劳动者，劳工

参考例句：

• Her husband had been a farm laborer.她丈夫以前是个农场雇工。
• He worked as a casual laborer and did not earn much.他当临时工，没有赚多少钱。

11 envoys   

使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份

参考例句：

• the routine tit for tat when countries expel each other's envoys 国家相互驱逐对方使节这种惯常的报复行动
• Marco Polo's travelogue mentions that Kublai Khan sent envoys to Malgache. 马可波罗游记中提到忽必烈曾派使节到马尔加什。

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

13 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。