Amman  - King Abdullah II of Jordan on Tuesday called US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and urged Washington to take "immediate steps" to stop the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, according to a royal court statement.

"The monarch stressed the need for taking immediate and effective steps to halt the aggression as soon as possible and re-open the crossing points to allow the entry of humanitarian and medical aid to the Gaza Strip," the statement said.

King Abdullah made a similar appeal to US President George W Bush on Monday in the course of his efforts aimed at ensuring a cessation of the Israeli attack, now in its fourth day.

The royal court also announced that the Jordanian leader was due to have talks in Amman on Wednesday with the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was scheduled to visit Jordan as part of a regional tour in a bid to stop the Israeli attack that so far killed at least 380 Gazans.

Demonstrations swept Jordan for the fourth consecutive day Tuesday with participants urging the government to abrogate the peace treaty which Amman concluded with the Jewish state in 1994.

Queen Rania published an impassionate article in local newspapers Tuesday urging Jordanians to come to the aid of their Palestinian brethren in Gaza.

King Abdullah and Queen Rania led a blood donation campaign that coincided with the dispatch of several Jordanian convoys of aid to the Gaza Strip. (dpa)