The Israeli air strike that killed at least 40 people in the Lebanese village of Qana has been met with widespread condemnation and renewed calls for a ceasefire.
The United Nations condemned Israel for the "shocking" assault.
Geir Petersen, the personal representative of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in Lebanon, said he was "deeply shocked and saddened by the killing of tens of Lebanese civilians including many children in Qana".
The attack was completely unjustified, despite Israeli claims the village was a haven for Hizbullah, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said.
Medical personnel line up bodies outside the Tyre hospital after an Israeli air raid on Qana killed more than 54 people, 37 of them children, in south Lebanon
"I have talked to the Prime Minister of Lebanon, Fouad Siniora. 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," he said in a statement on the European Council's Web site. "I have transmitted to him that the European Union is continuously working to reach an immediate ceasefire."
US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice called for all sides in the dispute to broker a deal. "It is time to get to a ceasefire," she said.
She said she was saddened by the bombing and confirmed that she had cancelled a planned trip to Beirut, but would stay in Israel to try to work out a deal for ending the 19-day-old conflict. "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," she said.
Pope Benedict also called for an immediate ceasefire."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," the Pope said in his Angelus blessing in the Vatican today.
French President Jacques Chirac condemned the attack. "The president learnt with concern about the act of violence which cost the lives of numerous innocent victims, notably women and children in Qana," his office said in a statement. "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."
Britain's Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett described the incident as "absolutely dreadful, it's quite appalling." She told Sky News: "We have repeatedly urged Israel to act proportionately."
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad claimed the attack was state terrorism. "The massacre committed by Israel in Qana this morning shows the barbarity of this aggressive entity," he said. "It constitutes state terrorism committed in front of the eyes and ears of the world."
Jordan's King Abdullah said it an "ugly crime" and urged an immediate ceasefire to end Israel's military offensive. "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," the monarch said.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa denounced the Israeli air strike as a "massacre" and demanded an international inquiry. Mr Moussa, who characterised Israeli attacks in Lebanon as "savage", also called on the United Nations Security Council to pressure Israel to stop its military offensive.