He and his car were riddled with bullets and he died shortly afterwards.

Expressing shock, Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who was returning from Geneva, Switzerland, urged all parties in the troubled country to "maintain national unity at this critical moment."

In a statement issued by his spokesman, Annan condemned the murder of Gemayel, "who believed strongly in an independent, democratic and united Lebanon."

Meanwhile, back in the council, Undersecretary-General Ibrahim Gambari was prepared for his briefing on all fronts.

First, he told the panel of 15 about "another month of violence in the Middle East -- one that for the tragedy of Beit Hanoun will almost certainly be remembered as a dark hour in this very long conflict.

"Again civilians on both sides have suffered from the conflict," he said, totaling up the tragedy as "more than 240" people killed or injured in Beit Hanoun, which "was devastated by repeated Israeli incursions" during one week. Twenty Palestinian civilians were killed in an artillery barrage.

Only a few miles away in the Israeli town of Sderot, Israelis suffered one dead and 14 others wounded "by Palestinian rocket fire," he said.

He added the "events of this month highlight, once again, the fact that this conflict cannot be resolved through force ... The incursions in Beit Hanoun produced a huge number of non-combative (civilian) deaths, revealing a manifestly excessive use of force."

Even though the stated intention of such Israeli attacks was to stop such rocket firing, Gambari said, such action intensifies anger against Israel and exacerbates existing resentment over the continued occupation with apparently no end in sight.

In light of these results, the undersecretary-general said, it is hard to see the effectiveness of such operations.

"Palestinian rocket fire, which is legally and morally wrong, is also counterproductive," he said.

The top U.N. human rights official saw the impact of such strikes first-hand when a rocket exploded a few hundred yards away from her Tuesday. Louise Arbour, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, who was not hurt, went to the site of the rocket impact in Sderot and said she could understand the sense of vulnerability and despair among the town's residents.

According to Gambari, the "assassination occurred in the midst of an increasingly complex political environment." He explained that from Nov. 6-11, Lebanese political leaders huddled in a process of national consultations discussing "critical issues facing the country, but could not reach a consensus." This led several days later to the resignation from the government of five Shiite and one Christian minister.

That weakened the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora at a time when it was about to consider the international tribunal.

Several people even questioned the validity of the government.

Annan's spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, noted the killing took place a day after the Security Council considered the secretary-general's report on establishing a special tribunal to deal with last year's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and more than a dozen other political assassinations in Lebanon.

Dujarric said, "Such acts of terrorism undermine Lebanon's stability, are unacceptable and have no place in a democratic and open society," adding that "the perpetrators and instigators of today's attack must be brought to justice to ensure an end to impunity."

The council set up the International Independent Investigation Commission in April 2005 after an earlier U.N. mission found Lebanon's own investigation into the Hariri assassination was seriously flawed and that Syria was primarily responsible for the political tensions that preceded the Hariri assassination.

It said high-ranking intelligence operatives from both nations had to know about the Hariri plans and attack operatives.

Serge Brammertz, head of the panel, told the council in September evidence obtained so far suggests a young, male suicide bomber, probably non-Lebanese, detonated up to nearly two tons of explosives inside a van to assassinate Hariri. The Feb. 14, 2005, Beirut bombing also killed 22 others.

The IIIC has also become responsible for investigating 14 other bombings that have occurred in Lebanon since October 2004, and Brammertz said evidence points towards his earlier conclusion that many of them were connected.

The IIIC's mandate runs until June 2007.

The council Monday endorsed the secretary-general's report advocating establishment of the Lebanon tribunal, with the proviso none of the 15-member panel object by 6 p.m. East Coast time Tuesday.

Apparently spurred on by the latest attack, council members agreed two hours ahead of the deadline to send the report, containing a draft agreement between Beirut and the world organization for establishing a Special Tribunal for Lebanon that would have an international character and most likely sit outside of Lebanon.

Ambassadors said it was now up to the government in Beirut to do its part in constitutionally establishing the court, with the help of the United Nations.

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