VOA常速英语2008年-Israel Launches Raids in Gaza in Response to Cr

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
11 April 2008

Four Palestinian civilians¹ and two militants³ have been killed in raids by Israeli air and ground forces in the Gaza Strip. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, Israel was retaliating⁴ for a deadly Palestinian attack earlier this week.

Israeli attack helicopters targeted gunmen from the Islamic militant² group Hamas that rules the Gaza Strip. Ground forces also moved across the border in tanks and armored personnel carriers, prompting exchanges of fire with Palestinian militants.

There were casualties among Palestinian militants and civilians.

The raids came after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed⁵ to keep hitting Hamas until it is no longer capable of attacking Israeli civilians.

He said Hamas is responsible for all the attacks from Gaza and will bear the consequences.

Mr. Olmert's threats came in response to a Palestinian cross-border raid on Wednesday, in which gunmen targeted a fuel depot⁶ that supplies Gaza and killed two Israeli civilians. Israeli spokesman Arieh Mekel said Hamas is trying to force Israel to cut off fuel supplies to Gaza, so the world will blame the Jewish state for the ensuing humanitarian⁷ crisis.

"They don't care," said Mekel. "I mean they sacrifice the well-being⁸ of their own people in order to kill some Jews. This is their goal."

Palestinian militants said the raid on the fuel depot was in protest against Israeli fuel cuts to Gaza and a crippling blockade, imposed in response to daily Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli towns.

Appearing on Arabic television, a masked militant in camouflage⁹ said the Palestinians will continue to strike at Israel everywhere and with all their might until the siege is lifted.

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 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。

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 retaliating   

v.报复，反击( retaliate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The administration will begin retaliating in six weeks if EC policies remain unchanged. 凯特先生说，如果欧共体一意孤行，美国政府将于六周后开始报复。 来自互联网

5 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。

6 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

7 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。

8 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

9 camouflage   

n./v.掩饰，伪装

参考例句：

• The white fur of the polar bear is a natural camouflage.北极熊身上的白色的浓密软毛是一种天然的伪装。
• The animal's markings provide effective camouflage.这种动物身上的斑纹是很有效的伪装。