BEIRUT, July 31: Shock and fury at an Israeli air strike that killed 52 Lebanese civilians, mostly sleeping children, rippled across the world from the United Nations to the streets of Arab capitals on Monday.

An enraged Lebanon was plunged into mourning, with banks and public offices closed and flags at half-mast to lament its biggest single loss of life since Israel unleashed its firepower on Lebanon almost three weeks ago.

The attack on Qana in the south of he country also piled pressure on the United States and Britain to call for a ceasefire despite stiff Israeli opposition to the idea.

In Damascus, hundreds of Syrians massed in the city centre lashing out against Israel and the United States and carrying small caskets representing the 30 children killed in the attack.

Iraqi leaders, including its most revered Shia cleric, called for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon. Protestors in a Baghdad Shia neighbourhood carried banners in support of Hezbollah and burned Israeli and US flags.

Protests stretched beyond the Arab world, with demonstrations in France and Bulgaria.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned Israel’s attack and urged an immediate ceasefire, calling on the international community to assist in seeking a peaceful settlement.

Iran meanwhile stepped up verbal attacks on Israel, declaring in the light of the Qana raid that Israeli officials would suffer a fate worse than that of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

Saudi Arabia’s government accused Israel of “war crimes” and urged Lebanon to assert control over all its territory.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is one of Israel’s few Muslim friends, condemned the killing of civilians in Lebanon as “a new culture of violence” that would fuel hatred and terrorism in the region.

The UN’s top human rights official Louise Arbour added her voice to the condemnations of the raid.—AFP