NORTH SINAI, Egypt -- For the fourth consecutive day, the huge gate of Rafah border crossing between Egypt's North Sinai and Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip has been closed by chains and locks by dozens of angry Egyptian border police guards in protest of the recent abduction of their colleagues.

With the Egyptian flag waving on top of the gate, about one hundred protesting soldiers gathered at Rafah border crossing along with some family members of the seven abducted recruits.

On Thursday, a group of militants, believed to be members of the hardline Jihadist group, abducted seven recruits from the police and the military in North Sinai's Green Valley, some 20 km away from the governorate's capital city Arish.

"We will keep the crossing closed until our kidnapped colleagues return safely," police recruit Ahmed Gaber told Xinhua. "We demand the return of our abductees and the cleansing of Sinai from such extremists."

Shaban al-Barbari, one of the border guards, also reiterated that the soldiers would not open the crossing until their colleges were freed.

Some 11 family members of the abducted soldiers sat near the Rafah crossing gate, voicing concerns about their kidnapped relatives and rejection of any military or police operation that would risk their lives.

Umm Ahmed, mother of kidnapped soldier Ahmed Abdel-Badie Abdel- Wahed, tearfully told Xinhua that she recognized her son in the video that appeared online on Sunday and showed the kidnapped soldiers seeking President Mohamed Morsi's help.

"I appeal to all officials including the president not to launch an attack on the extremists that would risk the life of my son," she said before bursting into tears.

The video posted on the Internet showed that the seven kidnapped, who were blindfolded with their hands on their heads, appealed to Morsi to respond to the demands of the kidnappers to release some prisoners involved in previous terrorist attacks.

For his part, Ibrahim Masloub, elder brother of abducted recruit Mostafa Masloub, said "It is not the right of the president or the defense minister to make a decision to release the abducted soldiers by force and risk the life of my brother and his colleagues."

The 40-year-old man said that Israel had released over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners to free its captive soldier Gilad Shalit while the Egyptian leadership cared only about its "prestige."

"I hold all concerned officials responsible if anything wrong happens to my brother," Masloub said.

Meanwhile, North Sinai Governor Abdel-Fattah Harhour told Xinhua on Monday that there were no official negotiations with the kidnappers and that there was "a green light" to bring military forces and equipment to maintain security in Sinai.

"All options are open in case of failing to free the soldiers in a peaceful way," Harhour said.

"We appeal on our protesting soldiers at Rafah to reopen the crossing and return to their work so as not to increase the suffering of the Palestinian people," Harhour said, referring to Rafah crossing as the only outlet for the besieged Gaza Strip.

On the other hand, the strike at Rafah border crossing extended on Monday to include security recruits at five police stations in North Sinai in addition to the governorate's traffic department.

"The message we want to convey is that we will not work and the police stations will remain closed until the release of our abducted colleagues," said Abdel-Aziz Mohamed, a recruit at a police station in Arish.