4 Palestinians Killed as Gaza Fighting Continues

 

Sonja Pace

Israeli helicopters have fired missiles into a neighborhood of Gaza City on Wednesday. Initial reports say at least three Palestinians were killed and more than a dozen others injured. The attack comes meet fierce clashes in the neighborhood as Israeli troops try to recover the remains¹ of six soldiers killed Tuesday when their armored personnel carrier was blown up by a roadside bomb.

The latest missile struck near a mosque² in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. The Israeli military says it targeted a group of militants⁴ planting explosives, but Palestinian witnesses say the casualties include women and children. Just hours earlier a missile fired from a helicopter hit a building in the same neighborhood.

Fierce fighting erupted in Zeitoun for the second day in a row as Israeli forces conduct house-to-house searches hoping to recover the remains of six soldiers killed there on Tuesday. Militants say they have taken the body parts, and Israel says its troops will stay in the area until all the bodies are recovered. The initial operation began in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday when Israeli troops, backed by tanks and military helicopters moved into Zeitoun in search of weapons factories. As they began to pull out, hours later, one of their armored personnel carriers was hit by a roadside bomb and exploded. Palestinian militants were seen in video images, proudly displaying body parts of the dead soldiers after the attack.

The militant³ groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the al-Aqsa Martyrs⁵ Brigades all claimed responsibility for blowing up the soldiers' vehicle. Israeli soldiers clashed with Palestinian gunmen throughout much of the day Tuesday. At least eight Palestinians were reported killed and another 120 injured.

Later Tuesday, the Israeli government said it would not negotiate for the return of the soldiers' bodies, but vowed⁶ harsh reprisals⁸.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has agreed to try to mediate⁹, and Palestinian leaders have also called for the release of the soldiers' remains. On Wednesday Egyptian officials are also reported to be negotiating with militants for the return of the bodies.

注释:
Initial [i5niFEl] adj. 最初的
blow up 爆炸
mosque [mCsk] n. 清真寺
planting [5plB:ntiN] n. 装备
casualties 人员伤亡
missile [5misail] n. 导弹
armored personnel carriers 装甲运兵车
Islamic Jihad 伊斯兰圣战组织：简称"杰哈德"
Hamas "哈马斯"
al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades "阿克萨烈士旅"
reprisal⁷ [ri5praizEl] n. 报复
mediate [5mi:dieit] vi. 调停

 

1 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。

2 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

3 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 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。

5 martyrs   

n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情）

参考例句：

• the early Christian martyrs 早期基督教殉道者
• They paid their respects to the revolutionary martyrs. 他们向革命烈士致哀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 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。

7 reprisal   

n.报复，报仇，报复性劫掠

参考例句：

• There is no political alternative but a big reprisal.政治上没有旁的选择只能是大规模报复。
• They bombed civilian targets in reprisal.他们炮轰平民目标作为报复。

8 reprisals   

n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They did not want to give evidence for fear of reprisals. 他们因为害怕报复而不想作证。
• They took bloody reprisals against the leaders. 他们对领导进行了血腥的报复。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。