The following are a selection of comments made yesterday in the aftermath of the Israeli attack on Qana:
Lebanese prime minister Fouad Siniora: "There is no place on this sad morning for any discussion other than an immediate and unconditional ceasefire as well as an international investigation into the Israeli massacres in Lebanon ... The persistence of Israel in its heinous crimes against our civilians will not break the will of the Lebanese people."
Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert: "I would like to express my deep sorrow at the death of innocent civilians . . . [ but] we will not blink in front of Hizbullah and we will not stop the offensive despite the difficult circumstances."
US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice: "I think it is time to get to a ceasefire . . . We actually have to try and put one in place . . . We have to try and do our work well so that there will not be more and more and more incidents over many, many more years."
French president Jacques Chirac: "France condemns this unjustified action, which demonstrates more than ever the need for an immediate ceasefire, without which there will only be other such incidents."
Hizbullah statement: "This horrific massacre [ at Qana] will not go without a response."
Jordan's King Abdullah: "This criminal aggression is an ugly crime that has been committed by the Israeli forces in the city of Qana that is a gross violation of all international statutes."
British foreign secretary Margaret Beckett: "It is absolutely dreadful, it is quite appalling. Undoubtedly today's events will make things worse, at least in the short term . . . We have repeatedly urged Israel to act proportionately."
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana: "I have talked to the prime minister of Lebanon . . . I have expressed to him my profound dismay and deep sorrow at the attack and the death of innocent civilians in Qana. Nothing can justify that."
Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak: "The Arab Republic of Egypt expresses its profound alarm and its condemnation of the irresponsible Israeli bombing of the Lebanese village of Qana, which resulted in innocent casualties, mostly women and children."
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad: "The massacre committed by Israel in Qana this morning shows the barbarity of this aggressive entity. It constitutes state terrorism committed in front of the eyes and the ears of the world."
Arab League secretary-general Amr Moussa: "The attacks that Israeli forces are launching, targeting civilians and the Lebanese infrastructure, are another confirmation of Israeli aggressive intentions."
Senior Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri: "In the face of this open war against the Arab and Muslim nations, all options are open, including striking [ at] the depth of the Zionist entity."
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi: "The Qana bombing is the outcome of [ US secretary of state Condoleezza] Rice's trip to the region. Some American officials should be put on trial for the crimes in Lebanon."
Pope Benedict: "In the name of God, I call on all those responsible for this spiral of violence so that weapons are immediately laid down on all sides."
International Crisis Group analyst Nicholas Pelham: "Major Israeli assaults on Lebanon have ended following a major killing of civilians. [ The bombing] makes the pressure for an immediate ceasefire that much greater. But an immediate ceasefire would make it more difficult to negotiate the entry of international forces because the pressure will be on Israel rather than Hizbullah."
UN secretary-general KofI Annan: "No one disputes Israel's right to defend itself, but by its manner of doing so it has caused, and is causing, death and suffering on a wholly unacceptable scale . . . The most urgent need is to bring the fighting to a halt without further delay . . ."
US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton (speaking outside the UN Security Council chamber): "It says something about the morality and respect for human life of Hizbullah that they would use innocent civilians as shields . . . But that is why as well, in Israel's exercise of its legitimate right to self-defence, they have to take into account this barbaric practice that Hizbullah has and exercise the utmost restraint so that Lebanese civilians are spared the brunt of this conflict."
British UN ambassador Emyr Jones Parry: "It reinforces the need for the violence to end now. That will be achievable through a Security Council resolution which should embody an immediate cessation of hostilities and set out the political basis for resolving this crisis on a longer-term basis . . . There is no reason why such a resolution should not be introduced into the council very quickly and adopted as a matter of urgency."