Mubarak in address on the occasion of the new Hegira and Gregorian years:

Egypt won't fall to Israeli trap nor get entangled in separating West Bank from Gaza Strip

Israeli leaders bear responsibility for savage aggression on Palestinians

Palestinian blood is not cheap

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak says his country will not fully open its crossing into the Gaza Strip unless the Palestinian Authority is in control of the border post.

Egypt has resisted dealing with the Islamic militant Hamas because it opposes the militant group's 2007 takeover of the Gaza Strip and insists Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority, is the legitimate Palestinian leader.

"Egypt will not allow anyone to put pressure on its government or exploit the Palestinian issue to obtain political advantages," Mubarak said on state television in Cairo on Tuesday.

He was responding to criticism from Islamist militant leaders from Hamas and Hezbollah and others in the Middle East who attacked Cairo for failing to open the Rafah crossing that separates Egypt from Gaza.

In Yemen, police on Tuesday arrested around 20 people who broke into the Egyptian consulate in the port city of Aden to protest against Israel's action and show their solidarity with the Palestinian people.

"We are saying to everyone wanting to take advantage of the actual situation in Gaza for their political gain on the backs of the Palestinians, their blood is not cheap," Mubarak said.

Mubarak said his country had worked for the past six months to reinforce the truce and sent aid to Gaza recently.

"We want to find a way to immediately stop the Israeli aggression in Gaza," he said.

"We are striving to open Rafah and open the other crossings. But we cannot open the Rafah crossing without a Palestinian authority and European observers or we would be violating international agreements that we have endorsed."

Mubarak said the divisions between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas had created the opportunity for Israel to carry out its military plans.

Mubarak slammed what he called Israel's "savage aggression" on the Gaza Strip, and said its "bloodstained hands" were stirring feelings of rage among Arabs.

"We say to (Israeli) leaders: you bear the responsibility for your savage aggression against the Palestinians, regardless of what justifications you use as an excuse. And we say to them: your bloodstained hands are stirring up feelings of enormous anger," Mubarak said in a televised address to the nation on the occasion of the new Hegira and Gregorian years.

Israel has killed more than 350 Palestinians in four days of attacks on the Gaza Strip in what it says an attempt to end Palestinian rocket attacks on its citizens and warned its military action could last weeks, while Hamas vowed to keep up rocket attacks on Israeli cities.

Many Arabs have been looking for Egypt, the most populous Arab country and the first to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state, to do more to end the assault on Gaza.

In Yemen, protesters angered by Cairo's "cooperation" with Israel in imposing a blockade on Gaza stormed the Egyptian consulate in the southern city of Aden on Tuesday, witnesses said.

Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said the incident at the consulate was over and lasted 15 minutes.

One witness said the protesters burned the Egyptian flag and hoisted a Palestinian banner on top of building.

"Some of the protesters were able to enter the consulate and destroyed some property and papers," another witness said, adding that some of the protestors were Egyptians.

Meanwhile, leaders of the Ezzedin al-Qassam, the armed branch of Hamas, were planning to hold a public meeting late Tuesday to discuss their position on the Israeli offensive.

In a statement issued to Arab media, the Islamic militants also took responsibility for a number of rocket attacks launched on the Israeli cities of Sderot and Ashkelon.