VOA标准英语2008年-Israel to Allow One Shipment Into Blockaded Gaz

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
21 January 2008

Israel has decided¹ to lift the blockade on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip Tuesday to allow a single shipment of fuel and medical supplies into the territory. VOA's Jim Teeple reports from our Jerusalem bureau.

Israeli Defense² Minister Ehud Barak says he will allow a limited resumption of food and fuel supplies to Gaza, but he warned that Israel will not ease its pressure on the Gaza Strip to halt Palestinian militants³ from firing rockets at southern Israel.

Gaza City has been without power after the city's main power plant shut down when it ran out of fuel late Sunday. Last week Israel sealed its borders with Gaza cutting all supplies to Gaza as retaliation⁴ for continuing rocket fire against the southern Israeli town of Sderot.

U.N. officials warned that international food aid to hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents could be suspended by Thursday, because U.N. trucks would also run out of fuel. John Ging who heads U.N. operations in Gaza says the fuel cutoff is making life intolerable for Gaza's residents.

"Six hundred thousand people in Gaza City are without electricity and will be until the power plant can resume its operation. It just adds more to the misery," he said.

Israeli officials strongly defended the cutoff, saying rocket attacks against Israel dropped dramatically after the fuel cutoff resulted in the shutdown of the power plant. Foreign Ministry⁵ spokesman Ariyeh Mekel says Hamas militants who control Gaza can stop the attacks if they want to, saying Hamas was responsible for the crisis.

"What we see in Gaza is a fabrication by Hamas. The fact is that 70 percent of the electricity in Gaza is provided by Israel, through electricity cables and this is not dependent at all on the supply of fuel," he said.

A Hamas spokesman dismissed the Israeli action to ease the blockade saying Palestinian militants will continue to attack Israel.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who heads the rival Fatah organization also criticized the blockade, but he has proposed to take over Gaza's crossing points with Israel as a way of easing the crisis.

Hamas refuses to recognize Israel and Israel will have nothing to do with Hamas, but Israel does deal with Fatah security forces under Mr. Abbas' control.

Fatah forces were kicked out of Gaza by Hamas last June after a violent series of clashes. Since then Gaza's 1.5 million residents have lived under an ever-tightening international blockade.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 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。

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 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。