Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat Wednesday urged the international quartet to intervene to stop Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip to prevent the situation from worsening.

"Violence, destruction, siege and closure will lead to more deterioration unless the quartet intervenes as a third party," Erekat told reporters.

He called on the quartet comprising the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations to pressure Israel to give a chance to the settlement of a crisis over an abducted Israeli soldier through diplomatic means.

On June 28, Israel launched a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip, dubbed "Summer Rain," in the wake of the June 25 cross-border attack on an Israeli army post by Palestinian militants, who killed two Israeli soldiers and abducted a third one.

Source: Xinhua