Associated Press

Palestinian mourners carry the body of Wael Radwan during his funeral procession in Abassan Al Kabera village east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip Saturday. Radwan, 15, was shot and killed by Israeli forces during clashes with Palestinian stone-throwers Friday in Khan Younis.

JERUSALEM - A spike in Mideast violence yesterday dampened prospects for a new U.S. mediation effort, as a Palestinian teen-ager died in a clash with Israeli soldiers and Israeli helicopters blasted buildings in Gaza after a mortar shell killed an Israeli soldier.

The violence came a day before Assistant Secretary of State William Burns and new envoy Anthony Zinni, a retired Marine Corps general, were to begin their peace mission here. The Americans hope to quash Israeli-Palestinian fighting before it undermines the U.S.-led coalition against international terrorism.

The mediators arriving today were to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was on a trip to Arab countries and was not expected back until Wednesday.

A spate of violence began with Israel's killing of leading Hamas militant Mahmoud Abu Hanoud on Friday, and continued yesterday.

A 14-year-old Palestinian boy was killed when Israeli soldiers opened fire on a demonstration near the West Bank town of Bethlehem, as Palestinians protested the killing of Abu Hanoud, Palestinian security officials said. The Israeli military said soldiers were forced to open fire during a violent confrontation.

Hamas has vowed to avenge the death of Abu Hanoud, the latest of dozens of militants suspected of attacks on Israelis to be killed in targeted strikes by Israel. The Palestinians have criticized what they call a policy of assassination, while Israel says it is defending itself against terrorism.

Since fighting erupted in September 2000, 769 people have been killed on the Palestinian side and 198 people on the Israeli side.

Earlier yesterday, Israeli helicopters blasted Palestinian buildings in three parts of the Gaza Strip after an Israeli soldier was killed in a mortar attack on an Israeli outpost next to a Jewish settlement.

In Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, two Palestinians were wounded when Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a Palestinian security forces building, witnesses said. In Dir al-Balah in central Gaza, helicopter gunships struck an office of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. In Sundaniyeh in northern Gaza, helicopters fired missiles at a naval police post.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo charged that Israel is trying to sabotage U.S. peace efforts. He said that the U.S. reaction to the Israeli operations was not strong enough, and "this will allow criminals to continue their terror," a reference to Israel.

Sharon said the U.S. mission would put Arafat's intentions to the test and insisted that Israel would try to reach a cease-fire. Peres said in a statement that after 14 months of fighting that "achieved nothing, the time has come for both sides to try to stop it."

Burns and Zinni were expected to press both sides to implement terms of a cease-fire that was negotiated five months ago by CIA director George Tenet but never took hold.

The plan called on Israel to pull troops back from Palestinian towns, stop killing suspected militants and lift travel restrictions between the Palestinian-ruled areas that have crippled the Palestinian economy. The Palestinians were to stop attacks on Israel, move against militant groups and collect illegal firearms.

Neither side carried out the terms, and each blamed the other.

Also yesterday, Israeli police entered an Arab neighborhood in the disputed part of Jerusalem, arrested 10 people and questioned 350 others. Police said the operation followed incidents of gunfire and rock-throwing.

Meanwhile, Israel's security services said more than 15 Palestinians have been arrested in connection with an alleged Iraqi-backed terrorism ring in the West Bank towns of Ramallah and Jenin. The statement said high-ranking Palestinian official Abdel Razek Yihiyeh took advantage of his right to pass Israeli roadblocks without inspection to smuggle money and weapons into Palestinian-controlled territory.

In response, Yihiyeh told The Associated Press that he does not have a VIP pass. He charged that the Israeli accusation was part of a campaign to destroy the reputation of the Palestinian Authority and undermine world support of the Palestinians.