Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Saturday he was dismayed at what he called Israel's excessive use of force in a four-day military offensive in the Gaza Strip, in which at least 42 people have been killed.

"Aboul Gheit expressed Egypt's strong dismay at the operation launched by Israel, condemning the use of excessive force and the lack of care for civilians," the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.

"This will only lead to more despair for Palestinians, and will increase the complexity of the situation and impede any efforts toward calm or the search for political solutions," it added.

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Aboul Gheit also called on Palestinian groups to stop firing rockets to avoid provoking a military response by Israel, which says its Gaza operation aims to halt rocket fire.

On Friday, the United States and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan openly disagreed on the cause of rising violence in Gaza.

Annan's office said in a statement the escalation and rising death toll were caused by the Israel Defense Forces operation in northern Gaza.

The State Department, however, said "the reason why all of this developed in the first place is because you have continuing attacks on Israel from Palestinian Authority areas."

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack reiterated also the Bush administration's view that Israel had a right to defend itself.

The statement issued by Annan's spokesman urged Israel to exercise maximum restraint, do its utmost to protect civilians and to refrain from further escalation in an already grave situation.

"He also calls on Palestinian militants to stop firing rockets at Israeli civilian targets," the statement said.

McCormack went further, saying it was important the Palestinian Authority stop the rocket attacks and dismantle terrorist organizations and terrorist groups.

"That's a little more difficult when you have a terrorist organization actually at the head of the government, that holds the rein of government," he said, referring to the militant Hamas group.

"The UN has a point of view," McCormack said.

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett also expressed concern Friday at the mounting death toll, calling on Israel to obey humanitarian law and for an end to Palestinian rocket strikes on Israel.

"We are concerned by increased violence in Gaza, in particular by reports of civilian deaths," said Beckett. "Israel has a right to defend itself but any action should be proportionate and in accordance with international humanitarian law.

"We call for an immediate end to the launching of rockets against Israeli civilian targets, and to all forms of violence," she said.

Later Friday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appealed to the UN Security Council to step in to stop the IDF operation in the Gaza Strip.

Abbas told the Palestinian news service Wafa on Friday evening that Security Council should help end the "Israeli aggression," which he said could lead to the destabilization of the entire region.

The Palestinian leadership would do all it could to appeal to the international community, Abbas said.