The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's presidential candidate Mohamed Morsi said on Friday his movement wanted neither "confrontation nor violence," as the country nervously awaits the results of a divisive election.

Morsi spoke after the ruling military warned that it would deal "firmly" with any attempt to harm the public interest as thousands of people packed Cairo's Tahrir Square accusing it of a power grab.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called Friday for the choice of the Egyptian people to be respected after parliament was dissolved and there was uncertainty over the winner of a presidential vote.

"I am concerned by the institutional developments of recent days in Egypt, following the first free presidential election that should mark a decisive step towards establishing a democratic regime," Fabius said in a statement.

Egypt's ruling military warned on Friday that it would deal "firmly" with any attempt to harm the public interest as thousands of people packed Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square accusing it of a power grab.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which took over when veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak was ousted by a popular uprising in February last year, also delivered veiled criticism of the Muslim Brotherhood, charging that efforts were afoot to pre-empt the outcome of a hard-fought presidential election.

Thousands packed Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square on Friday to denounce a power grab by the ruling military, as the nation nervously awaited the results of the first post-Mubarak presidential election.

Members and supporters of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood gathered in the square for the protest, which was to be joined later in the afternoon by several secular movements.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired two rockets that hit Israel on Friday, a military spokeswoman said, as a truce declared by the Islamist Hamas ruling the enclave entered its second day.

The spokeswoman told Agence France Presse that the rockets, which struck southern Israel, did not cause casualties or damage.

Egypt was on edge on Thursday after the Muslim Brotherhood warned of "confrontation" between the people and the ruling generals unless its candidate is named to succeed toppled president Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt on Thursday braced for a showdown between the military and the Muslim Brotherhood as the electoral commission delayed announcing the winner of a presidential poll claimed by the Islamists.

A delay in announcing the results from the run-off, which had been due on Thursday, heightened Brotherhood fears of a "soft coup" by the ruling military, which has already disbanded the Islamist-led parliament and granted itself sweeping powers.

The results of Egypt's presidential election that were scheduled to be announced on Thursday have been delayed, state media reported.

"Egypt's election commission, headed by Judge Faruq Sultan... has decided to delay the announcement of the presidential election run-off," the official MENA news agency said, without giving a new date.

An Israeli air strike on southern Gaza on Wednesday killed a "global jihad" militant who put together a deadly ambush on Israel's border with Egypt, the military said.

The strike targeted a man riding a motorcycle in the southern city of Rafah which lies on the border with Egypt, killing 21-year-old Ghaleb Ermilat, Palestinian medics said. Another person was wounded in the strike.

Egypt's Hosni Mubarak was Wednesday in a coma on life support at a Cairo hospital, sources said, as tension spiked over who will succeed him as president and moves by the ruling military to extend its powers.

The uncertainty over the health of the ousted leader comes amid new political upheaval, with both candidates in a presidential vote claiming victory and the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) granting itself sweeping powers.