VOA常速英语2008年-Egypt Seals Border With Gaza After 11 Days

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
03 February 2008

Egypt has closed the border with the Gaza Strip, ending 11 days of unrestricted movement for Palestinians. VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough has more from Cairo.

Egyptian security forces used barbed wire and metal barricades² to seal the last remaining gaps in the barricade¹ along the border.

Egyptians who were in Gaza are being allowed to return home, and Palestinians on the Egyptian side of the border are still able to go back to Gaza. But no new crossings are being permitted.

Hamas-affiliated militants³ on the Gaza side of the border have been turning people back and telling them it is closed. There were reports of scuffles with Gazans who still wanted to cross into Egypt, but most reports said the situation remained fairly calm.

A senior Hamas leader in Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar, said Saturday there had been an agreement between Egypt and Hamas to control the border, and suggested that the closure might be temporary. Egyptian officials have not commented on the existence of any deal with Hamas, but have repeatedly vowed⁴ to regain⁵ full control of the situation at the border.

Local resident Ibrahim Mohammed Ahmed owns a small grocery shop in Rafah. He spoke⁶ to VOA by telephone from the nearby town of Sheikh Zuwayad.

He said, the situation is tight and controlled now. The government has closed the entire border in Rafah and all the roads. Every 100 meters there is a checkpoint.

A Palestinian who crossed into Egypt to visit relatives, Essam Ibrahim Issa, spoke to VOA by phone from another small community near Rafah.

He said all the roads are blocked and Egyptian security forces are making Palestinians return to Gaza. He said, They put them in trucks and take them back to Rafah.

Issa said Hamas has indicated that the border will re-open in about a week, and he is hoping for a new agreement that will let him cross into Egypt legally.

He said he would be heading home to Gaza later in the day, but once the border crossing is officially reopened, he wants to return to Egypt legally, allowing him freedom of movement.

The border closure ends 11 days of unrestricted movement across the Egypt-Gaza border. Gunmen in Gaza blew open sections of the border barricade on January 23, days after Israel began imposing⁷ a near-total blockade on the territory. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians crossed into Egypt to buy food and other supplies that had become scarce or expensive in Gaza.

Egyptian security forces set up a cordon⁸ around the border town of Rafah, trying to keep Palestinians from moving further into Egypt. Egypt says at least 17 Palestinians have been arrested in Sinai carrying weapons and explosives since the crisis began.

The international community and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority have objected to any border deal involving Hamas, which violently seized control of Gaza in June.

Egypt, however, views the open border as a serious security risk and has pressed Fatah to accept some kind of deal with Hamas in order to see that it remains⁹ under control.

1 barricade   

n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住

参考例句：

• The soldiers make a barricade across the road.士兵在路上设路障。
• It is difficult to break through a steel barricade.冲破钢铁障碍很难。

2 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

3 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。

4 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

5 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

8 cordon   

n.警戒线，哨兵线

参考例句：

• Police officers threw a cordon around his car to protect him.警察在他汽车周围设置了防卫圈以保护他。
• There is a tight security cordon around the area.这一地区周围设有严密的安全警戒圈。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。