WASHINGTON - The United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union called Friday for Syria to immediately expel the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad from its territory.

"The quartet urges the Syrian government to take immediate action to close the offices of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and to prevent the use of its territory by armed groups engaged in terrorist acts," said a statement by the international group read by US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

The statement by the quartet, which is working toward Middle East peace, came two days after a suicide bombing that killed five people in northern Israel. The attack was claimed by Islamic Jihad.

Islamic Jihad said the bombing was a response to the killing of two of its militants by Israeli troops in the northern West Bank over the weekend, one of whom was the overall commander of the Al-Quds Brigades in the West Bank.

In escalating violence, Israel pressed on Friday with a deadly air campaign in the Gaza Strip, killing one Palestinian militant, after vowing an all-out offensive following the deadly suicide bombing.

On Thursday three Israeli missiles had slammed into a car in the northern Gaza Strip, killing two activists from Jihad's armed wing, the Al Quds Brigades, and six civilians who were just leaving a local mosque after evening prayers.

In their joint statement, the Middle East quartet condemned the Islamic Jihad's attack, called for calm and voiced strong support for the Palestinian Authority's efforts to clamp down on militants.

"The quartet condemns the October 26th terrorist attack on the Hadera market, responsibility for which was claimed by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, headquartered in Damascus.

"The quartet denounces all acts of terrorism and urges all parties to exercise restraint, avoid an escalation of violence, and keep the channels of communication open."

The quartet "strongly encourages and supports the Palestinian Authority in its immediate effort to take steps to prevent armed groups from acting against law and order and the policy of the Authority itself," it said.

The text was adopted after a half-hour teleconference Friday between UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and European External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the State Department spokesman said.

The telephone consultation had been prompted by the Hadera attack and the subsequent conversations between the US administration and the concerned parties, notably between Rice and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, McCormack said.

The spokesman emphasized that the quartet's statement did not intend to accuse Syrian leaders of having ordered the Hadera attack.

"I'm not going to draw any specific link between the Hadera bombing and any particular orders that may or may not have come out of Damascus. I'm not trying to draw that line at this time," he said.

"But I think it's very clear that you have senior leadership of some of these groups, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, resident in Damascus," he added.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had a public meeting about a month ago "with members of some of these rejectionist groups including Ahmed Jibril, the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad," he said.

"The quartet members thought that it was very important to speak out very clearly and to issue a clear call to the Syrian regime to end its support for these rejectionist groups and, in particular, to close down the offices of Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Damascus."

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