Israeli forces may complete their withdrawal from southern Lebanon in two weeks under the United Nations cease-fire resolution that halted a 33-day conflict with Hezbollah, the UN said.

“The cessation of hostilities is generally maintained,” Major General Alain Pellegrini, commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, known as Unifil, said yesterday, according to the UN's Web site. “I expect the withdrawal to be completed by the end of this month.”

Unifil has observed only a number of minor violations of the truce and Israel and Hezbollah seem determined to uphold the agreement, Pellegrini said.

The cease-fire began August 14 as part of Security Council resolution 1701, which calls for an international force of 15 000 soldiers and a similar contingent of Lebanese troops to act as a buffer between Israel and Hezbollah. It halted a conflict that killed more than 1 200 people in Lebanon and 159 people in Israel, according to the Lebanese and Israeli governments.

“We can ensure a stable environment here in south Lebanon, something the people need very much to get on with their lives,” Pellegrini said. Israel's troop withdrawal is continuing while the Lebanese army is deploying in the region, he said.

The European Union has pledged 7 000 soldiers for the expanded Unifil force. Unifil had 1 900 soldiers before the conflict. It has been in the country since 1978, largely as a force of observers.

About 4 000 soldiers are now deployed with Unifil and units from Spain are scheduled to arrive today, said Pellegrini, who comes from France.

The UN resolution also says Hezbollah must disarm and stop importing weapons. Israel wants international and Lebanese forces deployed along the Lebanese-Syrian border to stop arms reaching the group from its main backers Syria and Iran.

Hezbollah maintains its weapons in defiance of UN Resolution 1559, approved in 2004, which calls for the disarming and disbanding of militias in Lebanon. The US and Israel designate the Shiite Muslim organization as a terrorist group.

Military, police and customs officials from Unifil are reviewing security measures at entry points to Lebanon, the UN said yesterday.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni discussed how to prevent Hezbollah from receiving arms when she met US government officials earlier this week in Washington, the daily newspaper Haaretz reported today on its Web site. Livni also raised the issue of the release of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah, the newspaper said without giving details.

Israel a week ago lifted a blockade on Lebanese air and sea ports imposed at the start of the conflict that was sparked by the abduction of the soldiers on July 12.

A UN-backed naval force of Italian, French, British and Greek vessels is helping the Lebanese navy patrol the coastline until a permanent German naval force arrives as part of Unifil's mandate.

The German Cabinet yesterday approved sending a naval contingent of as many as 2 400 personnel, the first time German forces will have served in the Middle East since the end of World War II. German lawmakers will vote on the deployment on September 20.