VOA标准英语2009年-UN Secretary-General Calls for Unilateral Cease

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on Israel to carry out a unilateral cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. Israel has rejected those calls, and on Friday continued its bombardment of Gaza, where medical officials say more than 1,100 people have died since the start of the offensive 21 days ago.
　
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, and UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon, during joint¹ press conference at Abbas's compound in West Bank city of Ramallah, 16 Jan 2009

Diplomatic activity intensified² on Friday as Israeli forces continued to pound targets in Gaza and the number of casualties continued to mount.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon - on a weeklong tour of the region - was in the West Bank town of Ramallah, where he met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The top U.N. official called on Israel to stop its assault on Hamas targets on Gaza.

"The fighting must stop now," he said. "We have no time to lose. If they [take] some more time, there will be more casualties, more losses of human lives, more destructions. I would urge you again that a unilateral declaration of ceasefire would be necessary at this time."

Israel immediately rejected the notion of a unilateral cease-fire. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev tells VOA the Jewish state does not want a temporary solution - one that would be short of guaranteeing a permanent end to Hamas rocket attacks against civilians³ in Southern Israel.

"We want a sustained, real quiet in the South and it's clear that Israel will not agree to a situation where we unilaterally cease our fire and have Hamas simultaneously⁴ shooting rockets into Israel," he said.

The top Israeli negotiator went to Egypt on Friday to work out details of a cease-fire plan that Egypt is proposing. At the same time, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni traveled to Washington as part of Israel's efforts to get U.S. support in stopping the flow of weapons to Hamas.

Aerial bombing and artillery⁵ fire continued to be heard in Gaza on Friday, one day after residents reported the most intense fighting since the start of the offensive - now in its third week.

Mourners on Friday buried Hamas Interior Minister Said Siam, who was killed during an Israeli air strike on Thursday. Siam was regarded as the architect of Hamas' takeover Gaza in 2007.

1 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

2 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

5 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。