VOA慢速英语--在以色列-哈马斯冲突中，儿童受害最深

Children are suffering severe trauma¹ as Israel continues its bombing campaign against Hamas militants³ in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza health officials say at least 63 children are among the 217 Palestinians who have been killed in Gaza. The fighting between Israel and Hamas began on May 10.

On example is seven-year-old Suzy Ishkontana. She spent hours Sunday under the wreckage⁴ of her family home. Her brothers, sisters and mother died. Now she speaks or eats very little.

In Israel, 12 people have been killed by rockets fired by the militant² group Hamas which rules Gaza. All but one of the people killed were civilians⁶. One was a five-year-old boy.

For many children, it is trauma they have experienced for much of their lives. Israel and Hamas also fought wars in 2009, 2012 and 2014. Each time, Israel has launched heavy airstrikes in the small area where 2 million people live.

Israel says it does everything it can to prevent civilian⁵ deaths. Sometimes, Israel sends warnings to people to leave buildings that are about to be bombed.

Hamas has fired hundreds of rockets, but most are stopped by Israel's defense⁷ system. Israel also continues to bomb targets in Gaza.

The Ishkontana family was buried under their home early Sunday, after intense bombing of Gaza City. Israel said it was targeting a Hamas tunnel network. The strikes came without warning.

Riad Ishkontana said he was buried for five hours under a big piece of wreckage. He was unable to reach his wife and five children.

"I was listening to their voices beneath the rubble⁸. I heard Dana and Zain calling, ‘Dad! Dad!' before their voices faded and then I realized they had died," he said, speaking about two of his children.

Suzy was brought to the hospital alive, the second-oldest of his three daughters and two sons. She was the only survivor⁹.

The young girl was in "severe trauma and shock," said Dr. Zuhair Al-Jaro. He said the hospital could not get her the psychological treatment she needs because of the continued fighting.

"She has entered into a deep depression," Al-Jaro said.

The Ishkontanas were just one family destroyed that day.

The Israeli military said the strikes Sunday targeted Hamas tunnels under Gaza City. The strikes hit al-Wahda Street. Reports say it is one of the city's busiest streets and has many buildings where people live, and includes stores and restaurants.

Three buildings were destroyed, and many people from at least three families were killed. In all 42 people died, including 10 children and 16 women.

Lieutenant¹⁰ Colonel Jonathan Conricus is an Israeli military spokesman. He said the airstrikes caused a tunnel to collapse¹¹, bringing houses down with it. He said civilian deaths "were not the aim."

The Norwegian Refugee Council is a group that aims to help displaced people. It said 11 of the children killed in this war were involved in its program. One of the children was eight-year-old Dana, Suzy's sister.

Hozayfa Yazji is with the Norwegian Refugee Council.

The violence "will of course affect the psychology¹² of these kids," he said. "We are expecting that ... the situation will be much worse and more children will need more support."

The refugee council says it works with 118 schools in Gaza, affecting more than 75,000 students. Its Better Learning Program trains teachers to help traumatized children and organizes fun exercises to ease stress.

Jan Egeland is the council's secretary-general. He called for a cease-fire, saying, "Spare these children and their families. Stop bombing them now."

But in the longer term, he called for an end to the blockade on Gaza and the occupation of Palestinian territory. It is necessary "if we are to avoid more trauma and death among children," he said.

Words in This Story

trauma — n. a very difficult or unpleasant experience that causes someone to have mental or emotional problems usually for a long time

rubble — n. broken pieces of stone, brick, etc., from walls or buildings that have fallen

spare — v. to choose not to punish or harm

blockade —n. an act of war in which one country uses ships to stop people or supplies from entering or leaving another country

1 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

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 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

5 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

6 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。

7 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。

8 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

9 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

10 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

11 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

12 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。