Jordan's Prince Ali bin Hussein, a half-brother to King Abdullah II, on Tuesday urged FIFA to "freeze" Israeli participation in football to protest Israel's offensive in the Palestinian territories.

Prince Ali, who is president of the Jordan Football Association, made the appeal in a letter addressed to FIFA president Sepp Blatter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP in Amman.

"Football ... represents dignity, humanity and respect and in order to uphold its banner of "Fair Play" the entire football community should freeze Israel's participation in this noble sport," the prince wrote.

FIFA should boycott Israel "in the

same way it did with the former apartheid South Africa, until such time as Israel abides by International Law, United Nations resolutions and the will of the world," he said.

Prince Ali insisted that Israel must also "restore dignity and freedom to the occupied people of Palestine".

"The reason I write to you today is that all of us are responsible for pressuring such a solution, so that the people of Israel, Palestine and the region may once and for all live in peace," he told Blatter.

A Jordan Football Association official told AFP a similar letter was sent to the European football federation asking it to "boycott meetings between European and Israeli clubs and to freeze Israeli sporting activities."