VOA标准英语2014--巴勒斯坦人开始重建加沙地带

 

Palestinians Turn to Rebuilding Gaza 巴勒斯坦人开始重建加沙地带

WASHINGTON—

After almost two months of conflict in Gaza, Palestinians are preparing to rebuild the isolated¹ Mediterranean² enclave with assistance from abroad. Meanwhile, an international human rights group has found that Israel likely violated international laws of war during some of its attacks on Gaza.

Renewed fighting between Israel and Gaza in July and August left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead, about three-quarters of them civilians⁴. It also left much of Gaza in ruins.  Israel's death toll⁵ is just above 70, and most of those killed were soldiers. 

Human Rights Watch said Thursday that some of the Israeli attacks violated international laws.

"Our report issued today found out that in three different cases, Israeli attacks on UNRWA schools in the Gaza strip, where thousands of people were seeking shelter from fighting, were unlawful. In one case, in Beit Hanoun, several mortar⁶ shells landed right inside the school. In the Jabalya school: some people had moved from Beit Hanoun to seek shelter after the Beit Hanoun school was hit, moved to Jabalya and then it was hit several days later. Then in Rafah, the third case, we looked at where an advanced missile hit a motorcycle that was right outside the gates of the UNRWA school, killing⁷ about 10 people there," said Bill Van Esveld of Human Rights Watch.

Israel has announced its own investigation⁸ into the Gaza war operations, including attacks that killed four Palestinian children on a beach and 17 people at a U.N. school. The Human Rights Watch representative said similar Israeli investigations⁹ in the past did not produce significant results.

"That's obviously better than doing nothing, but we are concerned and we think the pressure needs to stay on because the Israeli military's record for accountability is extraordinarily¹⁰ poor," said Van Esveld.

The Israel Defense¹¹ Force has said it had evidence that the school area was used by militants¹² to fire rockets at Israel.  Human Rights Watch has condemned¹³ the practice of storing weapons in civilian³ facilities, but said there was no evidence of any military activity in or near the three schools. 

A U.N. representative visited Gaza Thursday to assess the needs of civilians who were left destitute¹⁴ by Israeli shelling.

"We need resources. We need funding to rebuild for both the refugees and the non-refugee families in Gaza,” said Robert Turner, UNRWA Director of Operations in Gaza.

The United Nations is urging the lifting of Israel's blockade around Gaza to ease access for humanitarian¹⁵ aid and construction material. During his visit this week, Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende said aid alone is not enough to rebuild Gaza.

"I think this is a question of what to import, but also the possibility of the people in Gaza to build a real life for themselves so they can start to produce, have their small and medium size businesses that usually flourished in this area to again be rebuilt and start to then have a decent income. This is crucial, and we will continue to address it with Israel," said Brende.  

Lifting the blockade has been one of the main conditions of Gaza's Hamas leaders during negotiations¹⁶ for the current cease-fire.

1 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

2 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

7 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。

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

9 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

10 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

11 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。

12 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。

13 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

14 destitute   

adj.缺乏的；穷困的

参考例句：

• They were destitute of necessaries of life.他们缺少生活必需品。
• They are destitute of common sense.他们缺乏常识。

15 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。

16 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。