Syria is beefing up security on its home front in a sign of escalating tension with Israel. There are war jitters on both sides of the border.
由于和以色列的紧张关系升级，叙利亚增强了后方的安全部署。叙以两国都出现了备战的紧张气氛。
As Israel conducts a big civil-defense drill this week, Syria will hold an unprecedented exercise to test the readiness of the home front for a possible Israeli attack. The drill was announced on state-run Radio Damascus.
就在以色列这个星期进行大规模民防演习的时候，叙利亚也将展开一场空前的演习，检验在以色列发动袭击的情况下叙利亚的后方是否作好了准备。叙利亚官方的大马士革电台宣布了这个消息。
The announcement said the drill will take place in all of Syria's provinces and will test the country's readiness and ability to handle natural disasters and other emergencies.
大马士革电台说，演习将在叙利亚的所有省份进行，将检验叙利亚是否作好了准备，以及它处理自然灾害和其它紧急情况的能力。
At the same time, Israel is conducting a five-day home front exercise to test preparedness for missile attacks with nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.
与此同时，以色列正在进行长达五天的后方演习，检验以色列是否对核武器、化学武器和生物武器的导弹袭击作好了准备。
In a test on Tuesday, air-raid sirens wailed across Israel, sending school children running to bomb shelters.
在星期二的演习中，空袭警报响彻了整个以色列，使学校里的孩子纷纷向防空洞奔跑。
The exercises in both countries point to escalating tensions. The armies of Israel and Syria have raised their alert levels, amid fears that Syrian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon might launch an attack that could plunge the region into war.
叙以两国进行演习表明紧张关系升级。由于人们担心叙利亚支持的黎巴嫩真主党游击队可能发动袭击，使整个地区陷入战争，以色列和叙利亚军方都提高了警戒程度。
Hezbollah has threatened "open war" against Israel for the assassination of one of its leaders, Imad Moughniyeh, in a car bombing in Damascus two months ago. Israel denied involvement.
真主党领导人穆尼亚两个月前在大马士革发生的一次汽车爆炸中遇刺身亡。为此，真主党威胁要和以色列“开战”。以色列则否认卷入这次暗杀活动。
"What we have is a very tense situation because both Hezbollah and Syria want to hit Israel in revenge for the killing of Moughniyeh, and it can get out of hand; and the Syrians are wary that if Hezbollah starts something against Israel, Israel may respond not only vis-à-vis Hizbollah, but also vis-a vis Syria," said Israeli analyst Dan Schueftan.
以色列分析人士许夫坦说：“我们处于十分紧张的局势之中，因为真主党和叙利亚都想袭击以色列，为穆尼亚报仇，情况很可能会失控。而且，叙利亚担心，一旦真主党对以色列发动袭击，以色列可能会作出反应，不仅针对真主党，也针对叙利亚。”
A Hezbollah cross-border raid in which three Israeli soldiers were killed and two kidnapped in 2006 sparked a monthl-long Israeli air and ground assault on Lebanon. Analysts say a miscalculation could spark another war that neither Israel nor Syria really wants.
真主党2006年曾跨过边界发动袭击，造成三名以色列士兵死亡，两名士兵被绑架。这一事件引发以色列对黎巴嫩进行长达一个月的空中和地面打击。分析人士说，如果错误地估计了形势，就可能引发另一场以色列和叙利亚其实都不希望看到的战争。 |