The head of the Palestinian National Authority on Monday called for a meeting with all Palestinian political parties to discuss the situation in Gaza, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said.

The Gaza Strip has been hit by the worst violence in recent years with over 300 Palestinians dead and around 1,400 wounded after Israel launched airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave three days ago. Israel said the airstrikes were in response to militant rocket attacks on Israeli border towns from the Gaza Strip after a six-month ceasefire ended 10 days ago.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has requested a meeting with all of the factions, including the militant Islamic Hamas movement, which has controlled Gaza since June 2007, to try and renew a ceasefire agreement with Israel.

"Now we have to be all united and be one hand in order to stop the aggression on our people in the Gaza Strip," China''s Xinhua cited Abbas as saying at an emergency meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Monday.