UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is urging the Security Council to condemn a deadly Israeli attack on the Lebanese village of Qana and to call for an immediate end to the violence.
"I am deeply dismayed that my earlier calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities were not heeded," Annan said.
"I repeat this call once again from this chamber and I appeal to the council to do likewise."
Annan was speaking at an emergency council meeting he called after the Israeli air strike on Qana killed more than 60 civilians in the deadliest single attack of its 19-day-old war against Hizbollah militants.
The council, after an hour of consultations, adjourned until later on Sunday while the 15 members contacted their governments on a possible statement.
Annan said no one disputed Israel's right to defend itself "but its manner of doing so is causing death and suffering."
But he said people had notice the council's failure "to act firmly and quickly during this crisis."
"For the sake of the people of the region and of this organization, I urge you to act, and to act now," Annan said.
His plea was backed by Lebanese Foreign Ministry official Nouhad Mahmoud.
"I know that deep within you, in your heart of hearts, you know that Israel is committing atrocities on a scale that your conscience cannot tolerate," Mahmoud said.
France's UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, expressing dismay at the attack on Qana, said "such an action cannot be justified" and renewed his government's plea for an immediate end to the fighting.
Unwelcome in Lebanon after the Qana bombing, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cut short her peace mission without calling for an immediate ceasefire to end the war.
"In the wake of the tragedy that the people and thegovernment of Lebanon are dealing with today, I have decided to postpone my discussions in Beirut. In any case, my
work is here (in Israel) today," Rice told reporters of the cancelled Beirut trip.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, while trying to voice "deep sorrow" over the deaths, said Israel was not yet ready to stop its war against Hizbollah and told Rice that Israel needed a further 10-14 days to continue pounding the militias, but may allow for no air bombings for 48 hours.
Washington has been siding with Israel by not calling for an immediate ceasefire and is isolated from many of its allies by this stand.
Meanwhile Arab League chief Amr Moussa joined a chorus of Arab leaders in denouncing the Israeli air strike as a "massacre" and demanding an international probe.
"The Arab League secretary-general requested aninternational investigation into this massacre and other Israeli war crimes that were committed in Lebanon, especially those that affected Lebanese civilians," an Arab League statement said.
From Algeria to Egypt to the Palestinian territories, Arabs voiced shock and anger, and questioned why world leaders had not acted more persuasively to stop the violence.
"Killing children is worse than barbarity. I'm very angry but I do not know what to do to help our brothers in Lebanon," said Mohamed Hadjersi, a retired Algerian teacher.
"World leaders must not remain spectators," universitystudent Kamel Sidoum, also from Algeria, said.
Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank to protest, while in Cairo scores of opposition lawmakers joined hundreds of demonstrators in a protest march to the Arab League.
The Egyptian protesters carried placards reading: "We're all with the resistance" and chanted demands to expel the Israeli ambassador and "liquidate Zionists".
Egyptian police later scuffled with journalists at a separate pro-Lebanon protest outside the press syndicate in downtown Cairo, witnesses said.
The attack in Qana, already a potent symbol because of a1996 Israeli attack there in which more than 100 civilians died, sparked a fresh outpouring of rage by Arab leaders.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a US ally, condemned the "irresponsible bombing" and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit summoned the Israeli ambassador.
Egypt is one of two Arab countries, along with Jordan, to have signed peace treaties with Israel.
Aboul Gheit had just returned from a brief trip to Damascus, a main backer of Hizbollah
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was quoted as saying bystate news agency SANA: "It constitutes state terrorismcommitted in front of the eyes and ears of the world."
In US ally Jordan, King Abdullah called on theinternational community to find a way out of the crisis.
"This criminal aggression is an ugly crime that has beencommitted by the Israeli forces in the city of Qana that is a gross violation of all international statutes," Abdullah said.
Jordan and Egypt, along with Saudi Arabia, are worried that a prolonged conflict could strengthen the hands of radical Muslim groups across the region.
Libya said it would seek to end the violence throughcontacts with UN Security Council members and step updonations of medicine and food to Lebanon. Tunisia declaredthree days of national mourning.
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