克林顿紧急出访检验美国在中东的影响力

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began an emergency trip to the Middle East on Tuesday in an attempt to settle a week of escalating conflict between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, a mission that also stands as a test of the U.S.'s influence in the region following its Arab Spring upheavals.

美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿(Hillary Clinton)周二紧急前往中东地区，试图解决以色列和巴勒斯坦在加沙地带长达一周且不断升级的冲突。克林顿此行也是在检验“阿拉伯之春动荡过后美国在这一地区的影响力。

She will enter a changed landscape. The latest conflict has fortified the Gaza Strip's ruling party, Hamas, at the expense of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a long-standing U.S. partner. Mrs. Clinton will have to work closely with new Egyptian leader Mohammed Morsi, who has emerged as the point man in talks between Israel and Hamas but has carefully guarded his independence from Washington.

克林顿即将面对的是一个被改变的格局。最近这起冲突强化了加沙地带的统治政权、巴勒斯坦伊斯兰抵抗运动组织哈马斯(Hamas)的统治，弱化了美国的长期伙伴、巴勒斯坦民族权力机构主席阿巴斯(Mahmoud Abbas)的权力。克林顿将与埃及新当选领导人穆尔西(Mohammed Morsi)紧密合作。在以色列和哈马斯的谈判中穆尔西成为了一位非常重要的人物，但穆尔西也在小心翼翼地守护自己在和美国交往过程中的独立性。

Regional leaders have worked to coax Israeli leaders and Hamas to end a week of violence that exploded a week ago when Israel assassinated a top Hamas military commander following renewed rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip, rekindling one of the region's oldest conflicts. Some 140 people have been killed in the conflict, according to Palestinian accounts. Hopes that a cease-fire would be announced Tuesday faltered, however, over outstanding demands on both sides, including Israeli insistence that any truce be enforceable over a prolonged period.

这一地区多国领导人一直在努力说服以色列领导人和哈马斯结束长达一周的暴力行动。一周前，哈马斯再次从加沙地带向以色列发起火箭弹袭击，此后以色列在袭击中打死了哈马斯一位高级军事指挥官，重新点燃了双方长期存在的冲突。据巴勒斯坦方面描述，约140人在冲突中丧生。但由于双方提出的要求还有很多未被满足（其中包括以色列坚持所达成的任何停火协议应该在长期被强制执行），周二达成停火协议的希望破灭。

Israeli naval vessels unleashed their most ferocious artillery barrage yet. Palestinian militants, meanwhile, fired off 150 rockets, striking near Jerusalem and Tel Aviv─farther than in previous Gaza upheavals─and killing two Israelis, including the first Israeli soldier to die in the conflict.

以色列海军舰艇发射了迄今为止最猛烈的炮火袭击。与此同时，巴勒斯坦武装分子发射了150枚火箭弹，袭击了耶路撒冷和特拉维夫附近地区（这一射程比此前加沙地带冲突中发射的炮弹都要远），并打死两名以色列人，其中包括在冲突中死亡的首位以色列士兵。

Mrs. Clinton announced her trip Tuesday and arrived later in the day in Jerusalem, straight from a summit in Cambodia she attended with President Barack Obama. The U.S. has supported Israel's right to defend itself, and Mrs. Clinton reiterated Washington's 'rock solid' security commitment to Israel.

克林顿周二宣布了她的行程，并在当天晚些时候抵达耶路撒冷。此前她刚刚结束与美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)一同在柬埔寨出席的东亚峰会。美国称支持以色列自卫的权利，克林顿重申了华盛顿对以色列做出的“坚如磐石的安全承诺。

Washington's goal is to help secure an end to fighting that it fears could spark a broader Middle East war. But another objective of Mrs. Clinton's stops this week in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Cairo, according to U.S. officials, will be to attempt to re-empower Mr. Abbas as the Palestinians' primary interlocutor with the international community, amid indications that the weeklong war has strengthened Hamas inside the Palestinian territories.

华盛顿的目标是帮助结束这场冲突，美国担心冲突可能引发更大范围的中东战争。但据美方官员透露，克林顿本周出访耶路撒冷、约旦河西岸和开罗的另一个目标是，试图扶植阿巴斯作为巴勒斯坦同国际社会进行沟通的主要对话者。目前有迹象表明，持续达一周的冲突强化了哈马斯在巴勒斯坦的影响力。

Mrs. Clinton is also seeking to navigate the Mideast's latest war with a new government in Cairo, which for decades has received billions of dollars a year in military funding and has served as a bulwark for regional peace. Egypt's new Islamist leader, President Morsi, has broken significantly from his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, and is walking an increasingly independent line from Washington.

克林顿还试图同埃及新政府一起解决中东地区的这起最新冲突。数十年来埃及每年都会接受美国提供的数十亿美元的军事资助，并成为保障地区和平的一只重要力量。但埃及新当选伊斯兰领袖穆尔西同前任穆巴拉克(Hosni Mubarak)的政治路线基本决裂，目前正走在一条同华盛顿方面日益疏远的独立道路上。

The Obama administration has redoubled its efforts in recent days to find common ground with Mr. Morsi on the Gaza conflict and to win Cairo's cooperation in getting Hamas to end its rocket attacks on Israel, according to U.S. and Arab officials. The U.S.-educated Mr. Morsi draws his support from the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood political movement, which has ideological ties with Hamas.

据美国和阿拉伯官员透露，近日来奥巴马政府加倍努力，试图找到同穆尔西在加沙冲突问题上的共同立足点，并争取开罗方面的合作，让后者说服哈马斯终止对以色列的火箭弹袭击。在美国接受教育的穆尔西赢得了伊斯兰政治运动组织穆斯林兄弟会(Muslim Brotherhood)的支持，而穆斯林兄弟会同哈马斯之间存在意识形态上的关联。

Washington, said these officials, hopes that a successful push to secure a cease-fire could herald a constructive new relationship with Egypt under Mr. Morsi. They also said it would provide a basis for the U.S. to more directly help Cairo build democratic institutions and recover from an intensifying economic crisis.

上述官员表示，华盛顿希望成功促成双方停火能够预示着美国同穆尔西领导下的埃及建立新的建设性伙伴关系。这些官员还说，此事能为美国更加直接地帮助埃及建立民主制度，帮助后者从日益严重的经济危机中恢复过来提供基矗

'If a cease-fire holds, this could be seen as a milestone for U.S.-Egyptian relations,' said an Arab official involved in the diplomacy.

一位参与外交斡旋的阿拉伯官员说，如果以色列和哈马斯能够达成停火协议，这可以视作美埃关系中的一座里程碑。