United Nations - The UN Security Council called Sunday for an end to violence in Lebanon and expressed "extreme shock and distress" over Israel's bombing of civilians in the village of Qana which killed 56 people, almost all of them women and children.

A Red Cross member carries a body inside an ambulance after an Israeli air raid in Qana, 6 km (4 miles) from the port-city of Tyre (Soure) in south Lebanon, July 30, 2006. The attack killed at least 56 people, including 37 children. [Reuters]

But the presidential statement, adopted unanimously by the 15-member council in an emergency session, stopped short of condemning the Israeli airstrike Sunday.

The council said it "strongly deplores this loss of innocent life and the killing of civilians in the present conflict" and called for the council to work without delay to adopt a resolution for a lasting settlement of the crisis.

"The Security Council expresses its extreme shock and distress at the shelling by the Israeli Defense Forces of a residential building in Qana, in southern Lebanon, which has caused the killing of dozens of civilians, mostly children, and injured many others," it said.

Earlier Sunday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had called again for an immediate halt to violence between Israel and Hezbollah, telling the council he was "deeply dismayed" that his previous appeals went unheeded.

He said the region was becoming impatient that the council, the most powerful UN body, had yet to issue a meaningful response after three weeks of war in Lebanon.

"Action is needed now before many more children, women and men become casualties of a conflict over which they have no control," Annan said.

Attempts by Qatar, the only Arab nation on the council, to strengthen language in the statement prolonged discussions late into the evening before the statement was passed.

But US Ambassador John Bolton opposed any condemnation of the attack.

Bolton repeated the American insistence that any statement must address what the US says is the root cause of the conflict, Hezbollah's continued grip on southern Lebanon and its attacks on Israel.

"Our view for quite some time has been and remains that we need to work toward a permanent solution to the problems in the region and that obviously we are converging to try to find a way to reach that solution," Bolton said.

In the three weeks since fighting began, the Security Council's only response has been a weak statement expressing shock and distress at Israel's bombing of a UN post on the Lebanon border Tuesday which killed four unarmed UN observers.

The United States, Israel's chief ally, has blocked stronger statements because it does not want to press Israel for an immediate cease-fire.

In unusually frank terms, Annan said the council risks undermining its own authority if it does not take action. He said that was underscored by attacks on the UN headquarters in Beirut Sunday, when protesters angry about the Qana attack smashed windows and hurled stones.

"People have noticed its failure to act firmly and quickly during this crisis," Annan said.

Lebanese special envoy Nouhad Mahoud expressed disappointment about the statement and said Israel's announcement late Sunday that it was suspending airstrikes on south Lebanon for 48 hours was inadequate.

"There is no cease-fire and there is no cessation of hostilities," he told reporters at the United Nations late Sunday, referring to Israel's announcement. "We are looking for something much more than that."

A French-backed Security Council resolution is expected to be discussed in the coming days. President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair called Friday for a UN resolution that would lay the groundwork for peace in Lebanon and deploy an international force there.

Speaking before the council, Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman called it a "horrible, sad and bloody Sunday." While he apologized for the airstrike in Qana, he said there was no comparison between Hezbollah, which intentionally targets Israeli civilians and uses Lebanese civilians as human shields, and Israel, which tries to avoid civilian casualties.

"Those people including women and children who were killed in this horrible tragic incident may have been killed by Israeli fire but they are the victims of the Hezbollah," Gillerman said. "They are the victims of terror. If there were no Hezbollah this would never have happened."

Gillerman said Hezbollah must be disarmed before any cease-fire. Otherwise, he said, the militant group will rise again, "not just against us and not just against the people of Lebanon, but against the whole region and civilization as we know it."

Syria's Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari faulted the United States for the attack, saying it was carried out with "American bombs."

"They call them smart bombs, but actually they are silly bombs," he said. "They call them laser-guided bombs but (they) are actually hate-guided bombs."