Arafat's meeting comes ahead of a meeting between Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak
scheduled for this weekend.
Clinton is pushing for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before he leaves office in January. No face-to-face talks are expected between Arafat and Barak.
Barak questions Arafat's desire for peace
Following Wednesday's violence, Barak issued a statement again questioning Arafat's commitment to peace, saying the violence "calls into question the seriousness of Arafat's intentions."
But Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who met with Arafat before the Palestinian leader departed for Washington, rebutted such charges.
"It is being said that Arafat doesn't want to make peace now, but I can confirm that Arafat wants to continue with the peace process and he wants to take advantage of the situation as it is today, not tomorrow," Mubarak said.
Arafat has said he will press for an international force to protect the Palestinians against what he called Israeli aggression.
Barak has flatly rejected such a force, saying it would reward the Palestinians for violence.
However, Barak sent a letter to several international leaders on Wednesday, saying he was prepared to accept the creation of a Palestinian state born out of agreement, not violence.
Barak's letter said the two sides were "at a crucial crossroads" between a negotiated settlement and more violence, and that the "only road to be taken is the one leading to an honorable, agreed-upon, negotiated birth of a Palestinian state."
The Palestinians have twice delayed a unilateral declaration of an independent state.
Mounting death toll
In Wednesday's violence, two Palestinians died of wounds at Gaza's Shifa hospital, officials there said. Another Palestinian died at the Kahn Younis refugee camp and two Palestinians were killed at the Karni Crossing on the Gaza-Israel border.
The sixth Palestinian to die was a 14-year-old boy killed in the West Bank town of Nablus. The seventh was a 17-year-old who was shot and killed at Tulkarem on the West Bank.
A 24-year-old Israeli woman customs officer was killed near the Egypt-Gaza border, prompting Israel to close Gaza's airport and seal its crossings into Egypt at Rafah. The woman's male companion was wounded.
According to Palestinian and Israeli sources, 167 of the dead in six weeks of intense fighting were Palestinians, 13 were Israeli Arabs and 18 were Israeli Jews.
![[CNN Money]](http://i.cnn.net/cnn/images/main/fn.logo.newsnet.gif){kind=logo}
![[SI.com]](http://i.cnn.net/cnn/images/main/si.logo.gif){kind=logo}
(
