2006年VOA标准英语-Israel Expresses 'Deep Sorrow' Over Killing of

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
26 July 2006

Israel's prime minister has expressed "deep sorrow" over the killing¹ of four United Nations military observers by an Israeli air strike in Lebanon, and has ordered an investigation² into the incident. The observers were from China, Finland, Austria and Canada. As many as 12 Israeli soldiers were killed Wednesday in heavy fighting in southern Lebanon.

-----------

Ehud Olmert    
  
A statement from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office says the Israeli prime minister has told U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan of Israel's "deep sorrow" at the deaths of the observers.

At the same time, the statement says Israel is dismayed at Mr. Annan's comment that the U.N. post in Lebanon was deliberately³ targeted by Israel. Foreign Ministry⁴ spokesman Yigal Palmor says Mr. Annan's comments make no sense.

"Why on earth would we deliberately target U.N. observers?" he asked. "What good would that do either on the military or the political level, because it so obvious that this would be harmful. Of course it is a tragedy for the observers and their bereaved⁵ families and we truly share their sorrow and we deeply regret the incident. It was obviously a fatal mistake. The Army will be conducting an investigation and the results will be made public."

The deaths of the U.N. observers come as diplomats⁶ from the Middle East, Europe and the United States opened talks in Rome aimed at exploring ways to end the fighting in Lebanon. Lebanon, Arab nations and some European Union members have called for an immediate⁷ cease-fire. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is co-chairing the meeting, says any cease-fire must not leave Hezbollah in place to threaten Israel.

Diplomats meeting in Rome are discussing the possible deployment⁸ of international peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, an initiative that Israel supports, but one that could be made more difficult by the deaths of the U.N. observers. Yigal Palmor of Israel's Foreign Ministry says the observers deaths should not hurt the effort to bring stability to the region.

"I hope this will not be the case because if there is no international or interim⁹ force to enforce U.N. resolutions to help the Lebanese government enforce its authority than nothing will have been achieved by the international community," he said. "The concern here should be shared by everyone concerned about peace on the Israel - Lebanon border."

Israel says in the meantime it will establish a security zone in southern Lebanon to safeguard its northern border. However, Israeli troops suffered heavy casualties Wednesday in heavy fighting with Hezbollah militants¹⁰ in their effort to take control of the town of Beit Jbail, a Hezbollah stronghold four kilometers inside Lebanon. Hezbollah militants also continued firing rockets at northern Israel striking Haifa, and warning that cities further inside Israeli territory could be targeted.

Meanwhile at least a dozen Palestinians including a child were killed in clashes between Palestinian militants and Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, one day after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in the last month in Gaza. Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian official says Palestinians have become the forgotten victims in the latest crisis in the Middle East. 

"What is happening in Gaza is horrible. I think we have become the forgotten war, the forgotten zone," he said. " I think war crimes are being committed in Gaza. The number of people who have been killed there in the last three or four days has reached 34 people."

Israeli officials deny targeting civilians¹¹ in Gaza or elsewhere in the Palestinian territories, saying their operations in Gaza are designed to stop the firing of rockets into Israel, and find an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants one month ago.

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 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 bereaved   

adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的过去式和过去分词)；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物）

参考例句：

• The ceremony was an ordeal for those who had been recently bereaved. 这个仪式对于那些新近丧失亲友的人来说是一种折磨。
• an organization offering counselling for the bereaved 为死者亲友提供辅导的组织

6 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

9 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

10 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。

11 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。