ARABS-ISRAEL - Nov. 25 - Teenager Killed; Violence Threatens Peace Effort.

Israeli soldiers mortally wound a 13-year-old Palestinian boy, who died later in the hospital, during confrontations in Bethlehem. (This follows a Hamas demonstration near Rachel's Tomb, with Palestinian demonstrators throwing rocks at soldiers guarding the shrine). Israel's helicopter and surface-to-surface missile destroy PA intelligence, navy and police positions, as well as offices of Arafat's Fatah faction in the Deir Balah neighbourhood in southern Gaza, wounding at least three people. Israeli bulldozers demolish several Palestinian houses in the area. (The attack follows the Nov. 24 bombing that killed an Israeli soldier in the settlement of Kfar Darom in Gaza. Hamas took responsibility, saying the bombing was intended to avenge the Nov. 23 assassination of senior Hamas official Mohammad Abu Hanoud and another two Hamas members in a helicopter ambush). Palestinian sources say Israeli gunfire has wounded a pregnant woman in Rafah. But the Army denied firing in the area. The Palestinian sources also said Israeli troops fired machine guns at the Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza. The Army, meanwhile, reported two mortar bombs were fired in Kfar Darom. The violence threatens peace efforts set to begin on Nov. 26 with the arrival of two US envoys, former Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni and Powell aide William Burns. PM Sharon told his cabinet on Nov. 25 it was up to the PA and Arafat to make a truce hold and pave the way for a return to peace talks. He said: "We see this as a most important matter and we will make every effort to reach a ceasefire. This is a test of Arafat and of the Palestinian leadership to demonstrate if indeed they intend to advance the peace process". But PA Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo told Voice of Palestine radio: "I cannot forecast whether these [peace] efforts will succeed because Sharon is trying to drown these efforts in a sea of blood". Maj. Gen. Abdel Razek Majaydeh, chief of preventive security in the Gaza Strip, said: "This military escalation came at this time in order to sabotage and block the way of American efforts to try to bring calm to the area".