VOA标准英语2009年-Israeli Forces Kill at Least 2 Palestinian

Israel war planes have struck at smuggling¹ tunnels between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Palestinian officials say at least three people died and several others were wounded in the attack.
　
Palestinian men sit near the spot where at least three men were killed and seven wounded following an Israeli air raid on smuggling tunnels in Rafah, southern Gaza, 25 Aug 2009

The strike was the latest in a series of tit-for-tat attacks on a system of tunnels in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Israel Defense² Forces spokesman Elie Isaacson tells VOA the strike was primarily in retaliation³ for a mortar⁴ attack from Gaza that lightly wounded one Israeli soldier.

"I cannot tell you that we respond to every single attack, but I can tell you that it has been a very clear policy that we have operated on, that these kinds of attacks will not be tolerated," he said. "This is an attack in response to mortar fire the previous day. We had another incident edge of Gaza just an hour beforehand. This sort of thing will not go unnoticed and will not go without a response."

Israeli officials target the tunnels because they say militants⁵ in Gaza use them to smuggle⁶ in weapons and explosives for attacks on Israel.

Journalist Mohammed Dawwas, reporting for VOA in Gaza City, says the tunnels serve to bring in luxury foods and other items that are not allowed past the checkpoints into the strip under restrictions⁷ enforced by Israel and Egypt.

"This is the only way now people, merchants bring goods to Gaza," said Dawwas. "Many, many things, like for example, metal, like all kinds of food, children's toys."

Israel usually allows scores of trucks to cross daily, carrying basic food items and medical supplies. But things like cigarettes, snack foods, coffee, and candy are smuggled⁸ through the tunnels.

Most construction supplies, including concrete, glass, and steel pipes are also banned because of Israeli concerns the Hamas militants who rule Gaza might use them to build bunkers and other means to attack Israel.

In the past eight years, militants in the Gaza Strip have fired more than 700 rockets at communities in southern Israel.

Israeli officials say there have been more than 200 rocket attacks from Gaza since the end of a 22-day Israeli assault that Palestinian officials say killed about 1,400 people.

1 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

2 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。

3 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

5 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。

6 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

7 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

8 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网