BEIRUT -- After four days of Israeli strikes on Gaza, an outpouring of popular anger is putting pressure on American allies in the Arab world and appears to be worsening the region's internal divisions.

The sharpest rhetorical attacks have been aimed at Egypt, widely seen as having aided the Israeli assault through its closure of its Gaza border, preventing refugees from fleeing the fighting.

But as massive street demonstrations continued Tuesday from north Africa to Yemen, some marchers and opinion-makers also lashed out angrily at other moderate Arab governments - including Jordan and Saudi Arabia - for failing to take a stronger stand. Syria and Iran, meanwhile, have drawn praise for their militancy.

As the death toll in Gaza passed 370, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt gave a televised address to defend his decision not to open the border with Gaza except for humanitarian purposes, and derided "those who are seeking political gains at the expense of the Palestinian people."

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, in an apparent reference to Egypt, said "those who link their interests to the interests of the Zionists will go to hell."

Although Jordan and Saudi Arabia have been careful not to blame Hamas, the violence has put them on the defensive.

"It's becoming clear that if you are silent, the Arab street is going to consider you part of the enemy," said Muhammad al-Masri of the Center for Strategic Studies in Amman. "There is no way to be in the middle."

That shift appears to be unraveling the tentative thaw over the past year, Masri said. Syria was reaching out to the West and holding indirect peace talks with Israel. Lebanon's political factions reached a peace deal. Syria and Saudi Arabia made gestures toward resolving their long-running feud.

Now the fault lines that were so painfully visible during the summer 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah have reappeared. Syria has been pressing for an emergency Arab summit meeting, but Egypt and Saudi Arabia have resisted the call, apparently fearing they could be portrayed as appeasers.

Demonstrations continued Tuesday in Cairo, where marchers have been carrying banners for days with slogans like "Down with Mubarak" and "Where is the Egyptian Army?" Angry disputes have broken out in Parliament, with members of the Muslim Brotherhood - the ideological father of Hamas - accusing the leadership of colluding with Israel.

A crowd of protesters attacked the Egyptian Consulate in Aden, Yemen, on Tuesday, and 11 were arrested by the police. Egyptian embassies have been the scenes of attacks and protests throughout the region since Sunday.

Egypt is in effect trapped between Israel, with which it has a peace treaty, and Hamas, which enjoys popular support among Egyptians. The Egyptian government has struggled with its own Islamist opposition, and would clearly like to be rid of Hamas. But it faces tremendous popular anger if it appears to endorse violence against Palestinians.

The Gaza violence has exacerbated that dilemma. It has happened before, but now Hamas is ruling Gaza and is politically isolated from the West Bank - which puts more onus on Egypt.

"Egypt is very much cornered this time," said Hassan Nafaa, a professor of political science at Cairo University. "There's a perception that Egypt is leading the moderate Arab camp in this, and that the moderate camp has not been able to achieve anything."

Egyptian officials see the hand of Iran - a patron of Hamas - in the conflict. Iran was already pressing Egypt before the Israeli attack began, apparently eager to undermine Egypt's role as a mediator between the Palestinian factions. Demonstrators gathered in front of the Egyptian Embassy in Tehran on Dec. 17 to protest Egypt's position toward Hamas.

In recent days, government-allied newspapers in Egypt have lashed out at Iran and its ally Hezbollah, whose leader demanded that Egypt open its border.

For their part, TV stations and newspapers allied with Iran and Syria continued to portray Egypt as a traitor. There were also harsh words for other Arab states.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia "are even more excited about this war than they were during the 2006 war" between Israel and Hezbollah, said Ibrahim al-Amine, chairman of the board of Al Akhbar newspaper, which is aligned with Hezbollah. "Israel would be satisfied with a compromise, but the Arab regimes want to finish Hamas completely," he said.

By Robert F. Worth
International Herald Tribune

Hwaida Saad contributed reporting.