Associated Press

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, right, laughs as U.S. mediator, retired Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni, left, looks on during a news conference following their meeting in Arafat's headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah yesterday. Zinni arrived Monday along with Assistant Secretary of State William Burns to try to quell more than a year of Israeli-Palestinian violence and restart truce talks.

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Israelis and Palestinians have suffered too much in 14 months of violence and must make peace, U.S. mediator Anthony Zinni said yesterday after meeting Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Zinni, on the second day of a truce mission, said, "We need to end the fighting and get back on the track toward peace."

Violence continued yesterday as Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian near a crossing point into Israel, Palestinian security officials said. The Israeli military said two Palestinians apparently trying to infiltrate into Israel and carry out a suicide attack were shot and wounded, but no one was killed.

The United States launched its initiative after several months of inaction, concerned that the fighting might interfere with efforts to keep moderate Arab states in a coalition to confront international terrorism, starting with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network in Afghanistan.

Arafat played host to Zinni and Assistant Secretary of State William Burns at the traditional sundown Iftar meal, breaking the daytime fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Afterward, Zinni and Arafat made statements but would not answer reporters' questions. Arafat said he was "committed to peace as a strategic option" and

wanted a Palestinian state that would live "next to the state of Israel."

Israel has charged that Arafat is responsible for the continuing violence, and many Israelis have questioned whether he wants peace with Israel.

On their way to Ramallah, as their four-car diplomatic convoy breezed through Israeli roadblocks, the Americans saw Palestinians, carrying belongings in plastic bags, walking along a parallel path to sneak around the barriers.

"I had the opportunity first-hand to see the difficulties presented to the Palestinians by the current situation," Zinni said. "I think both sides have suffered far too much in the last months."

The restrictions, imposed shortly after the fighting erupted, have crippled the Palestinian economy by preventing travel between parts of the territories and banning Palestinians from working in Israel.

Israel says the restrictions are necessary to keep militants out of Israel, where suicide bombers and other attackers have killed dozens and wounded hundreds in the past year. Palestinians say the restrictions are collective punishment and an attempt to force political surrender through economic pressure.

Removing roadblocks is a key element in the truce plan Zinni is trying to revive. The plan, negotiated last May by CIA director George Tenet but never implemented, also calls on Israel to withdraw its troops from Palestinian population centers and refrain from military actions inside Palestinian-controlled territory.

The Tenet plan has the Palestinians stopping attacks against Israel, cracking down on militant groups, arresting suspected terrorists and confiscating illegally-held weapons.

However, Israel insists on a weeklong period with no attacks before implementing any other measures. U.S. officials have said privately recently that they do not support the demand. The Palestinians charge that the seven-day requirement is impossible to fulfill and amounts to an Israeli ploy to avoid negotiations.

On Tuesday, while meeting Israeli officials, the American officials got a sample of the violence they are trying to stop. During a helicopter tour of the West Bank, guided by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Sharon got word of a Palestinian gunfire attack in Afula, an Israeli city next to the West Bank.

He directed the helicopter over Afula, where the Americans watched from the air as police dealt with the aftermath of the attack, in which two Israelis were killed and 14 wounded before police shot and killed the attackers. The militant Islamic Jihad and a group tied to Arafat's Fatah said they sent the gunmen.

Later Tuesday in Gaza, a Palestinian attacked a convoy with gunfire and grenades, killing an Israeli woman and wounding three other people, including a baby. Israeli soldiers guarding the convoy shot and killed the attacker. The militant Hamas group took responsibility.