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203 以色列封锁与黎巴嫩的边界
Israel Seals Border with Lebanon
Meredith Buel
Israel-Lebanon Border
20 Jul 2001 17:56 UTC
The Israeli army has virtually completed 1)sealing off its northern border, a little over a year after 2)withdrawing from southern Lebanon. Top military officials say, however, that continuing clashes with Hezbollah 3)guerrillas over a border dispute in an area called Shebaa Farms are a threat to regional stability. They say Hezbollah has now 4)obtained long-range missiles that could reach far inside Israel.
The strategic importance of the Shebaa Farms area, known to Israelis as Har Dov, is immediately obvious. 5)Perched on the side of a mountain, the site enjoys a 6)panoramic view of the Hatzbani Valley and Israeli communities within a few kilometers of the Lebanese border.
From their heavily 7)fortified posts in Shebaa Farms, Israeli soldiers have a commanding view into southern Lebanon, an area now under control of Hezbollah Party of God) guerrillas.
Looking out over the rugged countryside, Israeli army Captain Mitch Pilcer says the area is critical to Israel's defense of its northern communities. "The strategic importance of the Shebaa Farms area and Har Dov in general is 8)apparent to anyone who stands on the top of it," Captain Pilcer says. "And you see it commands a lookout over the entire valley where all the kibbutzes collective farms are and all the towns are beneath us over here. If we are talking about a situation when we are facing terrorists like the Hezbollah, who have been using Katyusha rockets, who have been trying to infiltrate the border over there, we have to be in a position above them where we can somehow see their movements and try to stop them before they reach the line where our actual population centers are."
For years, Hezbollah fought a war of 9)attrition against Israel's 10)occupation of its self-styled security zone in southern Lebanon. Last year, the Israeli military 11)pulled out of the area.
In a painstaking process, the United Nations drew the new border, but Shebaa Farms remains in dispute. Israel and the United Nations say the area is part of the Golan Heights, 12)captured by Israel from Syria during the 1967 Middle East war. The governments in Beirut and Damascus say the area is part of Lebanon. This disagreement has led to continuing 13)clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces.
Since the withdrawal, three Israeli soldiers have been killed and three kidnapped by Hezbollah. Israel has 14)retaliated for recent attacks by bombing Syrian targets inside Lebanon.
Israel says Hezbollah has now obtained longer-range missiles, capable of hitting targets far from the border.
Israeli Brigadier General Shuki Shihrur says the tension is threatening to make the entire region more 15)volatile. "The existence of the Hezbollah in this area, the fact that he continues to fire, including with weapons that he can threaten Israel with," General Shihrur says. "The Katyusha rockets, including the long-range rockets, all together are making the Hezbollah like the spark that can light the whole situation."
Israel has spent nearly $300 million building a fence topped with razor wire and installing sophisticated security equipment along the entire Lebanese border.
Corporal Rafi Cohen and his fellow Israeli soldiers 16)patrol the area. Corporal Cohen says he does not fear Hezbollah, but says additional precautions are being taken since the Israeli soldiers were kidnapped. "There is always the 17)potential for kidnapping and we are briefed every day about what we are supposed to do and we train," Corporal Cohen said. "You know it is there, but that is what we are here for."
Analysts believe Hezbollah's guerrilla war against occupation, and Israel's 18)unilateral pullout, helped inspire the Palestinian uprising, which began last September.
Eyal Zisser, a leading 19)analyst on Syria and Lebanon, says the Israeli withdrawal projected an image of weakness in the Arab world. "Israel, under pressure, gives up. You can get what you want from Israel without giving it peace," Mr. Zisser says. "Indeed, in southern Lebanon for the first time since the establishment of Israel, Israel gave up Arab 20)territory without getting back anything in return. Of course there is a 21)linkage between what happened in southern Lebanon and what happened in the West Bank and Gaza."
Syria has about 30,000 troops in Lebanon, and is considered the major power broker in the country.
In the past, Israel has retaliated for Hezbollah attacks by launching air strikes against Lebanese targets. Recently, Israel has begun hitting Syrian military targets inside Lebanon, a move 22)applauded by reserve Brigadier General Shlomo Brom.
"The most stupid thing for Israel to do as a result of Hezbollah action is to enter into a duel with Hezbollah, in which they are shooting at us, we are shooting at them," General Brom says. "There will be gradually escalation that will lead to a situation in which the civilian population on both sides of the border will suffer. That is the reason that the government of Israel decided, and I think justly so, to jump over Hezbollah and go directly to their 23)patron, namely Syria. In my opinion the most reasonable and effective reaction to Hezbollah actions is indeed to hurt the Syrians."
Meanwhile, Corporal Rafi Cohen, wearing the 24)skull cap of a religious Jew and carrying an automatic rifle, continues to patrol the border. He has no doubts about his 25)mission, or about who is Israel's enemy. "Hezbollah is here to kill me," the corporal says. "They are here to take my homeland and I am here to protect my homeland. I came here from the United States because I thought this is my homeland, and now I am here to protect it because Jews don't have anywhere else to go."
Occasionally, Hezbollah guerrillas come right up to the border fence and take pictures of the Israeli soldiers on the other side. So more than a year after Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon, tension remains high here on the volatile border, and the 26)conflict is far from over.
(1) seal off v.把...封锁起来
(2) withdraw[wIT5drC:]vt.收回, 撤消vi.缩回, 退出v.撤退
(3) guerrilla[^E5rIlE]n.游击战, 游击队
(4) obtained v.获得
(5) perch[p:tF]n.栖木, 人所居的高位, 有利的地位v.(使)栖息, 就位, 位于
(6) panoramic[9pAnE`rAmIk,-`rB:-]adj.全景的
(7) fortified adj.加强的
(8) apparent[E5pArEnt]adj.显然的, 外观上的
(9) attrition[E5trIF(E)n]n.磨擦, 磨损
(10) occupation[RkjJ5peIF(E)n]n.职业, 占有, 占有(房屋等)期间
(11) pull out v.拔出, 离开, 度过难关, 恢复健康
(12) capture[5kAptFE(r)]n.捕获, 战利品vt.俘获, 捕获, 夺取
(13) clash[klAF]n.冲突, 撞击声, 抵触v. 猛撞, 冲突
(14) retaliate[rI5tAlIeIt]v.报复
(15) volatile[5vRlEtaIl; (?@) -tl]adj.挥发性的, 可变的, 不稳定的n. 挥发物
(16) patrol[pE5trEJl]v.出巡, 巡逻n.巡逻
(17) potential[pE5tenF(E)l]adj.潜在的, 可能的n.潜能, 潜力, 电压
(18) unilateral[ju:nI5lAtEr(E)l]adj.单方面, 单边的, 片面的, 单系
(19) analyst[5AnElIst]n.分析家, 分解者
(20) territory[5terItErI; (?@) -tC:rI]n.领土, 版图, 地域
(21) linkage[5lINkIdV]n.联接
(22) applaud[E5plC:d]v.拍手喝彩, 称赞, 赞同
(23) patron[5peItrEn]n.(对某人, 某种目标, 艺术等)赞助人, 资助人
(24) skullcap[5skQlkAp]n.无边便帽, 并头草属的植物
(25) mission[5mIF(E)n]n.使命, 任务, 使团, 代表团
(26) conflict[5kRnflIkt]n.斗争, 冲突vi.抵触, 冲突
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