Annan spoke to an emergency council meeting he called after the air strike that killed more than 60 civilians, most of them women and children, in the deadliest single attack in Israel's 19-day-old war against Hizbollah militants.

"We must condemn this action in the strongest possible terms and I appeal to you to do likewise," Annan said.

"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 said Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Siniora told him Beirut would not engage in any more diplomatic discussions until violence had stopped.

Israel's air strike on Qana has fueled calls for an immediate ceasefire that the United States is still resisting.

The United States is under pressure from European and Arab allies to call for an early truce, though so far it shows no sign of softening its stand that a ceasefire cannot preserve the status quo. It can block any council action.

Washington backs Israeli demands for the Lebanese army, bolstered by an international force, to deploy to the south of the country currently controlled by Hizbollah, which is raining rockets down on towns in northern Israel.

Israel's U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman said Qana was "a hub for Hizbollah" and said his country had "beseeched" residents to leave prior to Sunday's attack.

"I am beseeching you not to play into their (Hizbollah's) hands, not to provide them with what they are seeking while sacrificing their own people as human shields and as victims," Gillerman said.

"Every dead Lebanese child is a horrible mistake and a tragedy. For them (Hizbollah) every dead Israeli child is a victory and a cause for celebration."

Annan said no one disputed Israel's right to defend itself "but its manner of doing so is causing death and suffering." He also condemned Hizbollah's shelling of northern Israel and its "unprovoked" kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers which started the crisis.

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 U.N. 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.

He called on the Security Council to work on a plan to resolve the overall crisis as well as an immediate response to the attack. France on Saturday distributed a draft resolution for a cessation of hostilities and conditions for a ceasefire, including an international force.

Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry also called on the council to call for an immediate end to fighting as well as a resolution setting out "the political basis for resolving this crisis on a longer-term basis."

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