2007年VOA标准英语-Fighting Ends in Gaza as Hamas Takes Control

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
15 June 2007

Palestinian factional fighting in the Gaza Strip ended on Friday as Hamas Islamic militants¹ completed their takeover of Fatah facilities. About 110 people, mostly militants, were killed in nearly a week of fighting between the two factions². VOA's Jim Teeple reports from Jerusalem that Hamas leaders say they will ignore decrees from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who on Friday named Salam Fayyad, a former world Bank official, as the new Palestinian prime minister.

Hamas militants pose as they stand at the desk of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza City, 15 Jun 2007

For the first time in nearly a week, calm largely returned to the streets of the Gaza Strip, as Hamas militants completed their takeover of the territory by seizing the Gaza headquarters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Ismail Haniyeh, who Mr. Abbas dismissed as prime minister, says he will ignore the order and focus on restoring security.

Haniyeh says he has instructed the Hamas Executive Force militia³ to impose what he described as "quiet" in Gaza. He says the existing Palestinian government will continue to operate no matter what President Abbas says.

About 100 Fatah officials fled to Egypt early on Friday, but tensions eased considerably⁴ after Hamas announced an amnesty for senior Fatah commanders. Hamas leaders also say they will take over Gaza's border crossing with Egypt, which has been staffed by Fatah security officials, and monitored by observers from the European Union.

There was also widespread looting of ransacked⁵ Fatah facilities such as the Presidential Compound, and the former headquarters of the Fatah Preventative Security Force.

However, for the first time in several days Gazans were able to leave their homes to shop for food and other essentials.

John Ging, who directs the Gaza operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the Gaza Strip says U.N. operations, which were largely suspended, after two local U.N. employees were killed in the violence, have also resumed.

"It has been a dreadful time for us to keep our operations going and it is a great relief to us that the fighting has stopped," he said. "That will enable our brave staff to continue to work without risking their lives as they have been doing over the last number of days."

Meanwhile, western donor⁶ representatives and Israeli officials are debating whether to now ease sanctions on the West Bank that were imposed last year after Hamas won legislative⁷ elections in the Palestinian territories. Mr. Abbas has requested that Israel release frozen customs and tax duties it has collected.

Miri Eisen, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, says Israel is receptive to the idea.

"For us the difficulty was in the existence of this Hamas government that refused to recognize Israel or renounce⁸ terrorism," said Eisen. "By firing this government there is certainly a very strong opening for Israel to be able acknowledge, possibly also with the funds to be able to assist the moderates which Abu Mazen [President Abbas] is at the head of."

Eisen also says Israel has no plans to cut power or water to the Gaza Strip which is home to about 1.5 million Palestinians, who must now adapt to life under the complete control of Hamas.

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 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

3 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。

4 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

5 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》

6 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

7 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

8 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。