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| The Hindu Newspaper Editorial Vocabulary : 16 November 2018 -For Various Competitive Exams |
Gaza on the brink
Israel and Hamas need to pull back to allow humanitarian intervention in the territory
The sudden flare-up
in Gaza between Palestinian militant groups and Israel is another grim reminder that the situation in the blockaded
Mediterranean strip remains precarious.
The latest violence was triggered by a botched
spy operation by Israeli commandos inside Gaza that killed seven Palestinians,
including a Hamas military commander. Hamas, which controls the territory, and
Islamic Jihad fired hundreds of rockets and mortar shells into Israel in retaliation. Israel responded with airstrikes and
artillery fire, hitting scores of military posts and weapons depots across Gaza.
They levelled television and radio
stations as well as Hamas’s military intelligence headquarters. It was the
heaviest Israeli attack since the 2014 war on the impoverished
enclave of 1.82 million people. Now, Gaza is staring at the prospect of a fourth war in a decade. The
territory has been on the brink for years. In past wars, Israel inflicted enormous havoc
on the enclave’s public infrastructure and caused high human casualties, while
in retaliation Hamas fired rockets into Israel’s civilian areas. Israel has
also imposed a land, sea and air blockade on the region in a bid to stop Hamas
from amassing more weapons and to weaken its hold over the strip. But Hamas
continues to control Gaza, having found multiple ways to smuggle in weapons,
while ordinary Gazans bear the brunt of the blockade. Joblessness is 40%. The
administration has no control on exports or imports, and is not even paying
full salaries to government employees. Due to scarcity of diesel, there are
extended power cuts. Sewage plants are not operational. In effect, Israel has
imposed collective punishment.
The situation has been particularly tense in
recent months. In March, thousands of Palestinians marched towards the border,
demanding their right to return to the homes and lands their families were expelled from in the first Arab-Israeli war of
1948, immediately after the creation of the state of Israel. About 750,000
Palestinians were estimated to have been forced out of their homes during the
war. The March of Return protests continued on the border since then, and have
often been met with live bullets fired by Israeli soldiers. Since March, at
least 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers and thousands of
others wounded. It was against this background that Egypt and Qatar stepped in,
offering to mediate talks and provide much-needed resources to the enclave.
Israel initially responded positively, letting fuel tanks and Qatari money into
Gaza. That should have set the stage for
further dialogue, but Israel’s undercover mission inside the enclave sabotaged it, triggering the current crisis. After
both sides announced a ceasefire, violence on the border continued,
underscoring how dangerous the situation is. They should restrain themselves, allowing peace efforts led by
Egypt to continue. Gaza needs aid, not another war.
Courtesy: The
Hindu 01. Pull back (phrasal verb) - withdraw, retreat, draw back, fall back, retire, disengage, pull out, back off, give ground, give way.
02. Intervention (noun) - involvement, intercession, interceding, interposing, interposition, mediation, mediatorship, arbitration, conciliation, intrusion, meddling.
03. Flare-up (noun) - attack, bout, outpouring, eruption, outburst, burst, outbreak, paroxysm, seizure.
04. Grim (adjective) – stern, aloof, strict, harsh, flinty, ferocious, menacing, surly, ruthless.
05. Precarious (adjective) – Dangerous, perilous, deceptive , dubious treacherous, on thin ice, touch & go, uncertain.
06. Botched (adjective) – Bungle, (of task) carried out badly or carelessly, screw up, louse up, foozle, bodge, fumble, mangle.
07. Retaliation ( noun) – revenge, reprisal, requital, an eye for an eye, getting even, reciprocation, blow for blow.
08. Levelled (verb) - aim or direct (a weapon, criticism, or accusation).
09. Impoverished (adjective) – Penurious, destitute, poor, poverty-stricken, pauperized, ruined, wiped out, on skid row.
10. Prospect (noun) – Expectation, anticipation, chance, likelihood, hope, contemplation.
11. On the brink (phrase) – Be very close to a difficult or dangerous situation, snappy, captious, crabbed.
12. Inflicted (verb) – Impose, force, foist, lumber someone with, saddle someone with, caused to.
13. Havoc (noun) – Devastation, chaos, bedlam, turmoil, depredation, catastrophe, hullabaloo, madhouse, tumult, pandemonium, a three-ring circus, mayhem, despoliation.
14. Expelled (verb) – Debar, Drum put, push out, oust, dismiss, defenestrate, have out, give someone the air, give someone the bump’s rush, blackball.
15. Set the stage for (phrase) - Prepare the conditions for (the occurrence or beginning of something)
16. Sabotaged (noun) – Deliberate, vandalism, wrecking, destruction, crippling, incapacitation, filibustering, running.
17. Restrain (verb) – Prevent from doing something, curb, repress, keep within bounds, limit, muzzle, bottle up, rein back, hold in.
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