VOA标准英语2009年-Gaza Fighting Inflicts Misery on Both Sides

It has been more than two weeks since Israel launched massive air strikes and then a ground offensive against Hamas militants¹ in the Gaza Strip and all the while, Hamas continued to fire rockets into southern Israel. The Palestinian death toll² from the conflict now stands at around 900; and 13 Israelis have also died, including three civilians³ killed by rockets. In this report we look at how the violence has affected⁴ people on both sides.
　 COLLAPSE¹⁷: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="15%" align="right" border="0">

A Palestinian woman carries her belongings5 in Rafah, after Israeli air strikes, 12 Jan 2009

The sounds of war are a daily reality on both sides of a bloody⁶ conflict - Palestinians in Gaza have had to live with the effects of Israeli air strikes, naval⁷ bombardments, tank fire and artillery⁸. Israelis have been subjected to continuous rocket attacks from Palestinian militants inside Gaza.

Reports from Gaza say much of the enclave has been reduced to rubble⁹ - government buildings, police stations, mosques¹⁰, smuggling¹¹ tunnels, the university, the homes of senior Hamas militants - all under attack. And in the process many innocent Palestinian civilians have been caught in the crossfire¹².
　

Palestinians who fled their homes eat at a United Nations school where they are sheltering in the Jebaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, 12 Jan. 2009

From Gaza City, Palestinian journalist Mohammed Dawwas described what life has been like.

"It has been very difficult for us," said Mohammed Dawwas. "We have been moving every day from my house to another house, to my father-in-law's house because we think it is safer there. For my children - my kids are very worried. When it gets dark, they are very frightened. And, you have to know, we have no electricity, we have nothing here. We are just surviving, minute, hour, day by day."

Television footage shown around the region and the world, of injured civilians, bloodied¹³ children and mangled¹⁴ bodies recovered from the rubble of bombed buildings, of civilians killed by Israeli shells at a U.N. school. These images have outraged¹⁵ public opinion in the Muslim world and elsewhere.
　

The Dhabour family in Ramallah

In their apartment in Ramallah, watches and worries. Ibrahim Dhabour is from Gaza and while he lives in the West Bank with his wife Suhad and their two young boys - the rest of his family is back in Gaza.

"When I see this on TV - the Israeli army killing¹⁶ Palestinians - men, women and children," said Ibrahim Dhabour. 'It's very difficult he says, adding his thoughts are always on what is happening in Gaza.

The only way to stay in touch is by phone.

Ibrahim Dhabour calls his mother. He asks her how the family is doing and how they are coping, what the latest news is from home. He later says she told him about the neighbors who have been killed, some by Israeli air strikes, some feared trapped under the rubble of collapsed¹⁸ houses.

He says she talks about the daily worries. She says there has been so much shelling that they fear the apartment building will soon collapse or might be hit at anytime. If we die, she tells him, do not worry - it is God's will.

His wife, Suhad gets on the phone to talk with her mother-in-law. She was crying, Suhad says, and her message was, "Do not worry about us, just take care of the family, your husband and the children."

Medical officials in Gaza say about 900 Palestinians have been killed and more than 3,500 injured in the Israeli attacks. At least half are believed to be civilians.
　

An Israeli woman, suffering from shock, is helped by a soldier after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit the southern town of Sderot, Sunday, 11 Jan. 2009

Israeli officials insist they are not targeting civilians and say they had no choice but to launch the military offensive after talks with Hamas over the extension of a cease-fire broke down and Islamist militants stepped up rocket attacks on southern Israel.

People in Sderot have become used to air raid sirens and warnings.

Sderot lies within a few kilometers from Gaza, in plain view, and has come under sporadic¹⁹ rocket fire for the past eight years. It has again become a target and 23-year-old Tamara Amr says it makes daily life very difficult.

"It is not so easy to live like this for eight years," said Tamara Amr. "All my days are in fear. I am 23-years old and I am so scared to stay alone, to shower alone, to sleep. I need to be in my own place and live a normal life, but it is not."

Tamara Amr, like most average Israelis, supports the military offensive for one reason, to stop rocket attacks from Gaza.

"I hope that [it] will stop and we can live in peace and we can live a normal life," she said.

"A normal life" is a hope expressed by people on both sides of this conflict. Diplomatic efforts are underway to end the violence and for civilians -Israelis and Palestinians - a resolution cannot come soon enough.

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 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

3 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。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

6 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

7 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

8 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

9 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

10 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

11 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

12 crossfire   

n.被卷进争端

参考例句：

• They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
• When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下，小公司遭受池鱼之殃。

13 bloodied   

v.血污的( bloody的过去式和过去分词 )；流血的；屠杀的；残忍的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• His pants leg was torn and bloodied when he fell. 他跌交时裤腿破了，还染上了血。 来自辞典例句

14 mangled   

vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• His hand was mangled in the machine. 他的手卷到机器里轧烂了。
• He was off work because he'd mangled his hand in a machine. 他没上班，因为他的手给机器严重压伤了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 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。

16 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。

17 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

18 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

19 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。