The Lebanese Government was this evening trying to finalise the make-up and deployment of a proposed UN peacekeeping force to the south of the country.

Cabinet ministers met to discuss how best to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that led to Monday's ceasefire and the conditions under which the 13,000-strong international force will operate.

The foreign ministers of France, Turkey, Malaysia and Pakistan, all countries expected to contribute soldiers to the force, met Lebanese officials to discuss the precise nature of the UN mission and whether their troops would be expected to confront and disarm Hezbollah, the Shia group that fought Israel for 33 days.

Hezbollah has promised to co-operate with Lebanese and UN forces once they arrive to replace withdrawing Israeli forces, but the group has refused to give up its weapons.

The first contingent of 3,500 UN troops, authorised to support the 2,000-strong UNIFIL force that has been in Lebanon for three decades, are expected arrive in southern Lebanon within 10 to 15 days.

A further 15,000 Lebanese government troops will start moving into a "significant part" of southern Lebanon occupied in recent days by the Israeli army tomorrow.

Military delegations from Israel and Lebanon agreed the troop movements at a meeting today with UNIFIL at the border crossing point at Ras Naquora.

"The mechanism and geographical area of the first Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon, and the first Lebanese deployment was agreed," said Richard Morczynski, a UNIFIL political affairs officer.

The negotiations in Beirut took place as thousands of the 900,000 Lebanese civilians who fled their homes during the war started to return to the ruined villages they left behind and Israel announced that it was appointing a commission to investigate the performance of its armed forces, which failed to severely weaken Hezbollah in the month of fighting.

A spokeswoman for Amir Peretz, the Israeli Defence Minister who has endured severe criticism in the Israeli press for his prosecution of the war, said the commission was expected to deliver an interim report in three weeks.

The commission, which will not have the powers of a full independent inquiry, as demanded by some critics of the war, will be headed by a retired army chief and former minister, three retired generals and the chairman of Israel’s biggest company, Teva, the spokeswoman said.

The Israeli investigation contrasted sharply with the confident tone of Hezbollah, whose members promised to rebuild the towns and infrastructure of southern Lebanon, which was shattered by sustained bombardments from Israeli aircraft and artillery.

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