2006年VOA标准英语-Humanitarian Fears Grow as Fighting Continues i

By Sonja Pace
Jerusalem
19 July 2006
 

Israeli warplanes destroyed the center of the southern market town of Nabatiyeh, Lebanon, Wednesday July 19, 2006  
  
Israel carried out more air strikes in Lebanon, killing¹ dozens of civilians² while Hezbollah rockets hit the northern Israel.  Militants³ also clashed with Israeli soldiers just inside the Lebanese border and violence continued in Gaza and the West Bank.  There are now growing concerns about an imminent⁴ humanitarian⁵ crisis in Lebanon.

----------

Israeli warplanes struck areas around Beirut and in southern and eastern Lebanon, targeting what the military says are suspected Hezbollah strongholds. 

An Israeli general from the northern command, told Israel radio the offensive is in its "advanced stages," but not over yet.

The general confirmed that limited land operations inside the Lebanese border had begun and he said clashes took place with Hezbollah fighters in the area.  The general also said while Hezbollah has been hit, he could not say just how much its strength has been depleted⁶. 

More than 250 Lebanese have been reported killed, mostly civilians. 

The United Nations estimates up to half a million people have fled their homes and aid agencies warn of an imminent humanitarian crisis.  Meanwhile, thousands of foreigners are fleeing the country.

Hezbollah militants fired more rockets into northern Israel.

More than two dozen Israelis have so far been killed since the violence began July 12 when Hezbollah launched a cross border raid, killed eight Israeli soldiers and kidnapped two others.  The State Department and Britain have designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

While the international focus remains⁷ on Lebanon, Israeli military operations also continued in Gaza.

Palestinian security sources say six people were killed Wednesday. 

Palestinian government spokesman, Ghazi Hamad accused Arab countries and the international community of standing⁸ by and watching what he called "unprecedented⁹ crimes" committed by Israel.

Speaking on Palestinian radio, Hamad also accused the United States and some European countries of clearly having given Israel a green light to continue killing and destroying infrastructure¹⁰, not only in Lebanon but also in Palestinian areas.

More than 100 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its offensive into Gaza several weeks ago in an effort to stop rocket attacks and to secure the release of an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants.  Israeli forces have also carried out operations in the West Bank. 

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 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。

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 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 depleted   

adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
• Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

10 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。