Lebanon Sending Troops Into South

In New York, Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, expressed concern that Hezbollah's intensified relief efforts could strengthen its political standing and future electoral prospects in Lebanon.

She said Israelis "expect" the international community to invest generously in the reconstruction of Lebanese villages "that Israel attacked." The alternative, she said, was an influx of Iranian cash to fund Hezbollah humanitarian activities. "The Iranians can send a check the next day to finance the places that were attacked by Israel," she said.

To find a long-term political settlement, the United Nations on Wednesday announced plans to send a high-level delegation to Lebanon and Israel on Thursday. The team -- headed by envoys Vijay Nambiar and Terje Roed-Larsen -- will try to develop a plan to ensure the eventual disarmament of Hezbollah and the demarcation of Lebanon's borders with Israel and Syria.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, has had about 2,000 soldiers posted along the border for two decades. But Israel dismissed this force as insufficient to prevent Hezbollah from building up its fighters and weapons in the area and launching attacks on northern Israel. As a result, the cease-fire agreement provides for reinforcing UNIFIL by as many as 13,000 additional troops.

France has offered to lead the reinforced UNIFIL detachment and contribute troops. The French foreign minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, after conferring with Siniora in Beirut, urged swift deployment of Lebanese army troops to provide reinforcement for the international peacekeepers as soon as possible.

Turkey also has offered to send troops. Its foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, also conferred with Lebanese officials in Beirut, along with the foreign ministers of Malaysia and Pakistan. Malaysia has said it, too, might send soldiers, along with Italy and several others. The Bush administration has said no U.S. troops will be involved.

Livni said that "Israel's enemies" should be prohibited from participating in a U.N. force. Her remarks followed reports by the Reuters news agency that the Israeli government objected to the participation of two Islamic countries, Indonesia and Malaysia, which do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

The governments that have expressed willingness to participate have demanded that the Lebanese army first get into place in cooperation with UNIFIL and that the United Nations work out a clear mandate for the newly expanded force, Lebanese officials said. The last thing anyone wants, they added, is for the foreign troops to be regarded as a hostile force by Hezbollah fighters, many of whom will remain in place in their border villages with their weapons in storage but ready to be used again.

The Israeli military has refused to say how many Israeli soldiers were in Lebanon during the fighting and how many remain. Israeli sources acknowledged that the absence of large columns withdrawing suggested that a force closer to 10,000 -- rather than the published estimate of 30,000 -- had been in Lebanon at the height of the conflict. In any case, said a military spokesman in northern Israel, Capt. Mitch Pilcer, most of those leaving now are reservists who had been called up for active duty.

During his stay in Beirut, Douste-Blazy called on Israel to lift its air, sea and land blockade of Lebanon so the Beirut airport and seaport can reopen for relief shipments and commercial traffic. Lebanese security forces should reinforce their monitoring of cross-border traffic to calm Israeli fears that Hezbollah could replenish its weapons stores, he said.

Syria, which borders Lebanon on the north and east, has been the main transit point for Hezbollah weapons, most of which come from Iran, according to Lebanese intelligence.

The blockade held up relief supplies, commercial imports and fuel for Lebanon's electricity generators during the conflict. Electricity has been rationed in most of the country for the last several weeks; the distribution network was largely destroyed by Israeli bombing in the south. Lebanese authorities announced Wednesday, however, that two tanker ships were on the way after long delays to deliver much-needed fuel for the generators.

In Israel, Defense Minister Amir Peretz created a committee to investigate Israel's conduct during the war, the Associated Press reported, quoting unnamed senior defense officials.

The committee, made up of business executives and retired generals, will be chaired by former army chief of staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak and is scheduled to present its preliminary findings within three weeks, the news agency said.

Lynch reported from the United Nations. Correspondent Doug Struck in Kiryat Shemona, Israel, contributed to this report.