Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese village of Qana which killed at least 51 people including 22 children drew vehement condemnation from the Arab world on Sunday.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak condemned Israel's attack on Qana as "irresponsible".

"The Arab Republic of Egypt called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, urging the UN Security Council and its permanent member states to shoulder their responsibilities and work on bringing about a halt to Israel's onslaught on the Lebanese people and infrastructure," Mubarak said in a statement carried by the official MENA news agency.

Mubarak also expressed his support for Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora's seven-point proposal, which he presented at a Rome conference Wednesday on means to end the current crisis.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said in a statement that the 22-member pan-Arab group strongly denounced the "barbaric " Israeli attack on Qana and the unabated Israeli offensive on Lebanon since July 12.

Moussa called for "an open international investigation into the Qana massacre along with other war crimes committed by Israel in Lebanon especially those against civilians."

He also called on the Arab states to take necessary steps toward showing full solidarity with Lebanon and offer urgent humanitarian relief aid to Lebanon.

Jordanian King Abdullah II strongly condemned the Israeli air strike on Qana, saying that "this criminal aggression forms a strong violation of the international law."

The Jordanian King also called on the international community to take measures to reach an immediate ceasefire over the Hezbollah-Israel conflict, which entered its 19th day on Sunday.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was visiting Saudi Arabia, also called for a ceasefire while condemning the Israeli raid on Qana as a "war crime".

Palestinian Prime Minister and senior Hamas leader Ismail Haneya said that he was shocked by the "heinous massacre" committed by the Israelis in Qana.

Haneya said that he was horrified by the gruesome daily Israeli atrocities in Lebanon, adding that Israel's military offensive posed a major threat to regional and international stability.

Hamas threatened to carry out attacks inside Israel in retaliation for Israel's attack on Qana.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denounced Israel's attack on Qana as "state terrorism", the official Syrian Arab News Agency ( SANA) reported.

"This massacre reflects again the brutality of the usurper entity and state terrorism that it practices before the world's eyes and in its hearing," al-Assad was quoted as saying in a telephone talk with his Lebanese counterpart Emile Lahoud.

Assad "shared his shock and sadness at the horrible carnage committed by Israel against innocent civilians in Qana," the report said.

Kuwaiti parliament speaker Jassem al Kharafi sharply condemned the Israeli assault on Qana, saying that the Israeli "savage and barbaric" aggression on Lebanon surpassed all moral and humanitarian limits, disregarding international law, human rights and the world community.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed deep regret for the civilian deaths in Qana.

However, Olmert told U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who returned to Israel on Saturday to press for a ceasefire deal, that his country needed another 10-14 days to continue attacking Hezbollah.

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered an investigation into the Qana bombing.

Up to 750 Lebanese, mostly civilians, have been killed since Israel started its massive military offensive on July 12 right after Lebanon's Shiite military group Hezbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others in a cross-border attack.

Source: Xinhua