Palestinian National Authority (PNA) urged the Mideast Quartet Committee to prevent Israel from escalating the situation by carrying out a potential large-scale ground military operation in the Gaza Strip, official Palestinian sources said Saturday.

The PNA also called on the Quartet comprising the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations to press Israel to stop airstrike and shelling of targets in Gaza in order to restore calmness to the Palestinian territories.

Earlier, Israel Channel Two Television quoted an Israeli high- ranking army official as saying that if the Palestinian militants don't stop firing homemade rockets at southern Israel, a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip will be possible.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said "we urged world last night to help us keep calmness that must be mutual."

Israeli aircraft struck 13 access roads to Qassam rocket launching sites in the northern Gaza Strip overnight, Palestinian sources said.

Israel stepped up crackdown on militants in Gaza and the West Bank in response to a suicide attack which left five Israelis dead earlier this month.

Source: Xinhua