2006年VOA标准英语-Diplomacy to End Mideast Fighting Derailed by V

By Sonja Pace
Jerusalem
30 July 2006
 

Lebanese hold a candlelit vigil in memory of at least 56 people - more than half of then children - who were killed Sunday in an Israeli airstrike that crushed a building in the southern Lebanese village of Qana  
  
Diplomatic efforts to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants¹ were derailed Sunday after an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese village of Qana killed at least 56 people, mostly women and children. In New York, U.N. Secretary General Koffi Annan urged the Security Council to condemn² the attack and call for an immediate³ ceasefire, while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is in the Middle East, had to cancel her planned trip to Lebanon.

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Secretary Rice had planned to meet with Lebanese leaders in Beirut, and expectations were she would leave the region with some concrete proposals for ending the more than two weeks of fighting.

The Israeli airstrike on the village of Qana set back those plans.

A visibly angry Lebanese Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora said this was not the time for negotiations⁴. "There is no place on this sad morning for any discussions other than an immediate and unconditional⁵ cease-fire," he said.

 
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan addresses the media during an emergency session of the Security Council 
  
Later, at an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council in New York, Secretary-General Koffi Annan urged the Council to condemn the attack on Qana and call for an immediate cease-fire. "I am deeply dismayed that my earlier calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities⁶ were not heeded⁷ with the result that innocent life continues to be taken and innocent civilians⁹ continue to suffer," he said. "I repeat that call once again from this council chamber¹⁰ and I appeal to the council to do likewise."

The United States and Israel have resisted international pressure for an immediate truce¹¹, insisting that any halt to hostilities must be sustainable and long-term.

That position apparently¹² remains¹³. But in Jerusalem, Rice spoke¹⁴ of a cease-fire as "soon as possible." "I would have wanted one (cease-fire) yesterday, if possible, but the parties have to agree to a cease-fire and there have to be certain conditions in place. Any ceasafire has to have circumstances that are going to be acceptable to the parties," she said.

Rice said she was "deeply saddened" by the events in Qana and said all sides were pushing for an "urgent end" to the conflict.

The White House issued a statement expressing its condolences for the losses in Qana and said it continues to urge Israel to exercise the utmost care to avoid civilian⁸ life.

Israel says it does not target civilians. Speaking at the United Nations, Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman said those killed in Qana were the victims of Hezbollah actions. "While we mourn the deaths of those people, we must stress that Israel has never, and did not on this particular case, target innocent people. Kafr Qana has been for a long time a hub for Hezbollah. The Hezbollah has been launching missiles and rockets at Israel from Kafr Qana," he said.

While Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed "deep sorrow" over the Qana bombing, he vowed¹⁵ the fight against Hezbollah would continue.

Israel wants to diminish Hezbollah's capabilities¹⁶ and drive the militia¹⁷ back from the border so it can no longer threaten Israel.

It also wants Hezbollah to return the two Israeli soldiers militants captured July 12 and, in the longer-term it wants to see the group disarmed¹⁸. Israel and the State Department each consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

Israeli officials indicated Mr. Olmert told Rice that Israel needs about two more weeks to continue its military campaign.

The attack on Qana has outraged¹⁹ Lebanese. Several-thousand people gathered in downtown Beirut to show their anger and ransacked²⁰ a U.N. building.

Hezbollah has vowed revenge for the Qana attack.

Secretary-General Annan said it was Hezbollah's unprovoked cross border raid into Israel July 12 that ignited the current hostilities, but he said Israel's response is causing death and suffering on an "unacceptable scale."

And, Annan reminded both sides that the U.N. Human Rights Commissioner²¹ has cautioned they could be held accountable for "any breaches²² of international humanitarian²³ law.

1 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。

2 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

3 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。

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

6 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

7 heeded   

v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 )；变平，使（某物）变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She countered that her advice had not been heeded. 她反驳说她的建议未被重视。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I heeded my doctor's advice and stopped smoking. 我听从医生的劝告，把烟戒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 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。

10 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

11 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

12 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

13 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。

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

15 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

16 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

17 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

18 disarmed   

v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 )；使息怒

参考例句：

• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。
• The swordsman disarmed his opponent and ran him through. 剑客缴了对手的械，并对其乱刺一气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

20 ransacked   

v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺

参考例句：

• The house had been ransacked by burglars. 这房子遭到了盗贼的洗劫。
• The house had been ransacked of all that was worth anything. 屋子里所有值钱的东西都被抢去了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

21 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

22 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

23 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。