Israel shuns truce calls on Day Four of Gaza blitz

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Israel shuns【（习惯性地或有意识地）避开】 truce【休战】 calls on Day Four of Gaza blitz【闪电战；突然袭击】 (Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-31 00:16


GAZA CITY – Israel on Tuesday shunned world appeals【呼吁】 for a truce, massed【集中】 forces on the Gaza【加沙】 border and warned that its deadly assault【攻击；突袭】 on Hamas【哈马斯(巴勒斯坦伊斯兰原教旨主义运动，支持建立巴勒斯坦国家，反对与以色列和谈)】 could last for weeks as jets pummelled【连续攻击】 Islamist【伊斯兰（极端）分子】 targets for a fourth day.


Palestinian【巴勒斯坦的】 youths, protesting【抗议；反对】 Israel's offensive【攻击行动】 in Gaza, throw stones at police and military vehicles driving past in al-Ram in the West Bank on the outskirts【郊区】 of Jerusalem【耶路撒冷】 December 30, 2008. [Agencies]

Despite the devastating【破坏性的；使人震惊的】 aerial【空中的】 pounding【重击；重创】 that has killed at least 363 Palestinians, Hamas militants【好斗分子】 continued to fight back, firing deadly rockets deep inside Israel.
Children again fell victim【受害者】 to the Jewish state's "all-out war"【全面战争】 on the Islamist Hamas movement, with two sisters dying when a missile slammed into their donkey cart in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun.
In Gaza City, residents picked through【准备好】 rubble【粗石；碎砖】 and broken glass after a night which saw Israel hammering【重击】 the overcrowded【过度拥挤的；人口密集的】 territory【地区】 with some 40 strikes【空袭机组；袭击】 targeting Hamas buildings, training camps and rocket launching sites.
"We are scared... that we can die at any moment," said 11-year-old Mohammed Ayyad who lives near a government compound blasted【遭破坏的；被摧毁的】 in the overnight raids【突然袭击】.
Despite pleas【请求】 by UN chief Ban Ki-moon for a stop to the "unacceptable" violence that has sparked outrage【暴行】 in the Muslim world and protests【反对抗议】 in many countries, Israel waved aside【对。。。置之不理】 calls for a truce.
"There is no reason that we would accept a ceasefire【停火】 at this stage," Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told AFP.
"If there is a ceasefire, that will allow Hamas to regain strength, recover from the shock and prepare an even stronger attack against Israel."
With tanks and troops massed on the Gaza border, the Israeli military said "ground forces are ready" to join what politicians have warned would be a prolonged offensive.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the bombardment【炮击；轰炸】 so far was "the first of several stages approved by the security cabinet."
Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai warned the offensive -- one of Israel's deadliest【致命的】 against Gaza -- could turn into【变成】 "weeks of combat【战斗】."
Defence Minister Ehud Barak has said the "all-out war" against Hamas "will be intensified【加强；加剧】 as necessary" to "deal a severe blow to Hamas so that it stops firing against Israeli citizens and soldiers."
The four days of intensive bombardment, which have killed several senior Hamas officials and reduced much of its infrastructure in Gaza to rubble【毁坏】, have failed to stop rocket fire from the territory.


Israeli【以色列的】 soldiers stand atop【在。。。的顶上】 an armoured【装甲的；武装的】 personnel carrier just outside the northern Gaza Strip December 30, 2008. [Agencies]

Three Israelis -- two civilians and one soldier -- were killed on Monday by rockets fired from Gaza, with one slamming into the southern port city of Ashdod more than 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the border.
Hamas has warned it could launch suicide attacks inside Israel for the first time since January 2005.
Since the massive【巨大的；大规模的】 aerial attack【空袭】 was unleashed【发动】 on Saturday in a bid【请求；呼吁】 to halt【停止】 persistent rocket fire from Gaza, at least 363 Palestinians, including 39 children, have been killed and 1,720 wounded, Gaza medics say.
Palestinian militants have also fired more than 250 rockets, killing four people inside Israel and wounding around two dozen more.
Rebuffing【断然拒绝】 Arab【阿拉伯的】 appeals, Israel's main ally【同盟国】 Washington gave the offensive strong support but said it was also working behind the scenes to forge a truce.
"The United States understands that Israel needs to take actions to defend itself," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was speaking to key world leaders and diplomats to find a lasting way to end the violence, officials said.
At the United Nations, Ban said he was "deeply alarmed【忧虑的】" by the "unacceptable" escalation【扩大；逐步上升】 of violence. "Both Israel and Hamas must halt their acts of violence and... a ceasefire must be declared immediately," he said.
EU foreign ministers were set to meet in Paris later on Tuesday to discuss how they can work to help ease【减轻；缓和】 the crisis in Gaza.


An Israeli soldier searches a Palestinian youth detained【扣留；扣押】 during a protest in the West Bank city of Hebron against the Israeli offensive in Gaza December 30, 2008. [Agencies]

In Brussels, the European Union's executive arm sounded the alarm about the "plight【情况；险境】 of civilians" in the battered territory, and called "for an immediate halt to military hostilities【对抗】... (and) to the rocket attacks."
Concern is growing about the humanitarian situation in the aid-dependent enclave【存在于大文化团体中的独立小团体(或少数派集团)，(处于大团体包围之中而又独立存在的)小团体】 of 1.5 million which Israel has virtually sealed off【封锁；隔离】 since Hamas seized power in June last year.
The Israeli military opened the Kerem Shalom crossing to allow more than 100 trucks filled with humanitarian aid to enter Gaza on Tuesday, a military spokesman said. On Monday, dozens of trucks were allowed to pass through.
Israel's offensive followed days of rising violence after a tenuous【脆弱的；模棱两可的】 six-month truce in and around Gaza ended on December 19. It also comes ahead of early parliamentary【国会的；议会的】 elections in Israel called for February 10.