JERUSALEM -- President Bill Clinton has promised to accelerate the transfer of $250 million in aid to Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasser Arafat to help shore up his rule in the violence-stricken Gaza Strip.


Clinton made the pledge Monday in a meeting in Washington with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who asked the president to exert pressure on the donor countries to release the aid, Israeli reports said Tuesday.


The transfer of $250 million to the Palestinians will be completed by the end of the year, a U.S. official said. Half of this money will be authorized next week, when the donor countries meet for an emergency session in Brussels, said the Haaretz daily.


The pledge came after a violent weekend in Gaza in which 14 Palestinians were killed and more than 150 wounded during clashes between Gaza City police and Moslem worshipers.


Arafat has blamed much of the violence on growing discontent in the impoverished strip where unemployment is 58 percent.


Governments around the world have pledged $2.4 billion over five years to help Arafat's autonomy government. But the money has come in a trickle, largely because Arafat has resisted demands to set up a proper accounting system. So far, international donors have provided only $40 million out of the $690 million promised for this year.