MIDDLE EAST: US, European, Israeli and Arab leaders are almost certain to agree in Rome tomorrow to the creation of a coalition force to go into Lebanon under the banner of the United Nations to help end hostilities, according to diplomats preparing for the summit.
European Union and Nato countries will be heavily involved in the force, although not the US or Britain.
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, on a visit to Beirut and Jerusalem yesterday, proposed deploying the Lebanese army along the border with Israel, backed by the international force, to stop rocket attacks by the Lebanese-based Hizbullah militia.
Israel bombed Beirut in the morning but eased up while Ms Rice flew from Cyprus into the city. She met prime minister Fouad Siniora, and MPs close to Hizbullah, and then continued to Jerusalem. She told Nabih Berri, speaker of the Lebanese parliament, who is an ally of Hizbullah and close to Syria, that the "situation on the border cannot return to what it was before July 12th". Last night Mr Berri put forward counter-proposals for a ceasefire and a prisoner swap.
Ms Rice met her Israeli opposite number, Tzipi Livni, last night before talks with the prime minister, Ehud Olmert, today. But Israeli officials made it clear that they expected no pressure from the US to curtail military operations for another week to 10 days. After she goes on to Rome, Ms Rice is expected back in Israel on Sunday.
Fighting continued for the 13th day, with at least seven Lebanese killed. Israeli soldiers fought a ground battle with 100 to 200 Hizbullah militia at the town of Bint Jbeil, by the border; in which 20 soldiers were injured. More than 100 Katyusha rockets struck northern Israel, injuring 13 people. Two Israeli pilots died when their Apache helicopter crashed near the border.
The Israeli government was initially opposed to an international force but has come round to the idea. Among proposals put forward in Jerusalem are for Turkish troops to be involved because they are in Nato and are Muslim. The US was also initially sceptical but has privately told the UN it now supports, in principle, the creation of such a coalition force.
The idea has gained momentum since first raised by Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, and British prime minister Tony Blair at the G8 summit in St Petersburg. Mr Blair, at a press conference in London yesterday, said an announcement about a peace plan, of which the international force is the centrepiece, would be made within days.
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said some crucial elements remained to be defined: how the force would be formed, who would contribute and what its mandate would be.
A British official said the likeliest option would be a coalition with a clear UN mandate like the Nato force that served in Kosovo.
The official said an even bigger problem was finding a way to halt violence. Syria was the key: "Syria has access and influence but is reluctant to use it. Iran has access and influence, but does not want to restrain Hizbullah."
A third element of a peace package is release of prisoners. According to reports yesterday, Israel has approached the head of Germany's foreign intelligence service to try to broker a deal. Israel Radio said that the government had asked Ernst Uhrlau to act as a mediator between Israel and Hizbullah. Germany's foreign ministry refused to confirm the reports.
However, Mr Uhrlau enjoys credibility with both sides and was responsible for brokering a spectacular prisoner exchange in January 2004 between Hizbullah and Israel.
Israeli aircraft also attacked what was described as an Islamic Jihad missile store in Gaza. Ismail Haniyeh, the Palestinian prime minister, said he was asking the US to pressurise Israel to refrain from such attacks. Six Palestinians were killed, including two children.