CAIRO (AFP) - President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday rejected calls to open Egypt's border with war-battered Gaza and hit back at critics of Cairo's response to the Israeli offensive, accusing them of playing politics with Palestinian suffering.

Mubarak said that Egypt would only reopen the crossing when the Hamas movement which seized control of Gaza in June last year reconciled with Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and allowed him to reassert his authority over the territory.
He said the crossing in the divided border town of Rafah could only be fully opened to people and goods if an international agreement which Abbas signed with Israel when it withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005 is respected.
""We in Egypt are not going to contribute to perpetuating the rift (between Abbas and Gaza's Hamas rulers) by opening the Rafah crossing in the absence of the Palestinian Authority and EU observers in violation of the 2005 deal,"" Mubarak said in a televised speech.
Egypt has come under strong criticism for not fully opening the border in the face of Israel's devastating four-day-old air blitz.
It has allowed a handful of wounded Gazans to leave for treatment and allowed some medical supplies in.
But on Sunday Egyptian police fired warning shots in the air to prevent large numbers of civilians fleeing Gaza.
Mubarak held talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni just two days before the start of the offensive, sparking charges of collusion that have seen Egyptian diplomatic missions attacked in both Beirut and the Yemeni port city of Aden.
Lebanon, meanwhile, has tightened security around the Egyptian embassy in Beirut. The roads leading to the building have been blocked and the area surrounded by cement blocks and barbed wire.
A security official told AFP on condition of anonymity the measures were ""preventative"" in case of future protests in the area.
African Union lambasts Israel over Gaza raids
The African Union on Tuesday condemned Israel's air raids on the Gaza Strip and urged the UN Security Council to ""compel"" Israel to declare a ceasefire.
""The (AU) Commission strongly condemns the ongoing air raids on the Gaza Strip by Israel since 27 December,"" the bloc said in a statement.
""This massive and disproportionate attack constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law and will further aggravate the suffering of the civilian population, which, as a result of the siege imposed by Israel, has been faced by shortages of food, medicine and fuel.""
The body appealed to the UN Security Council and members of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet ""to fully assume their responsibilities towards the civilians in the Gaza Strip by compelling Israel to an immediate ceasefire"".
The AU also urged the world to step up efforts to provide medical and humanitarian aid to victims of the attacks.
Israeli warplanes pounded Gaza for a fourth day on Tuesday.
A medical official in Gaza said at least 368 Palestinians, including more than 50 civilians, have been killed in the raids.
EU says ‘deeply concerned’ over events in Gaza
""The European Commission is extremely concerned about the plight of civilians in the Gaza Strip,"" the EU executive arm said in a statement on Tuesday.
""It calls for an immediate halt to military hostilities that are having a heavy impact on the civilian population in Gaza.""
The commission said it was ""deeply concerned"" over events in Gaza.
""The European Commission insists on the need for sufficient access for supplies of essential humanitarian goods to Gaza in particular in view of the dramatic situation of hospitals there.
""Urgent measures have to be taken in order to ensure safe and secure conditions for the distribution of these goods and to facilitate access of international agencies,"" said the commission statement.
On Saturday, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said “Israeli strikes are inflicting an unacceptable toll on Palestinian civilians and will only worsen the humanitarian crisis as well as complicate the search for a peaceful solution.”
Solana added that “passages in and out of Gaza should be reopened to allow humanitarian and regular commercial flows.”
Persian Gulf leaders call for an end to Gaza onslaught
Persian Gulf leaders on Tuesday condemned Israeli ""aggression"" against the Gaza Strip and urged an end to the relentless air raids.
The leaders of the oil-rich Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC), in a statement issued at the end of their annual summit in the Omani capital, also called on Israel to lift its blockade on all Palestinian territories.