Smash hit

Earlier this week, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, said the group would provide money and furniture directly to what he estimated to be the 15,000 Lebanese civilians whose houses were destroyed during the war. And today, Hezbollah’s commander in south Lebanon, Nabil Kaouk, said the group's goal was to "bring south Lebanon back to its real life and to rebuild it better than it was before the war."

Thousands of homes, dozens of bridges and hundreds of miles of roads are in rubble across Lebanon. The cost of the damage to the country's factories, power plants and businesses is estimated at around $3.7 billion.

Admiration for Hezbollah and Nasrallah continued to be expressed across the Arab world today. Writing in Al-Quds al-Arabi, an Egyptian newspaper, even a secular columnist, Howeida Taha, wrote:

"The last thing I expected is to fall in love with a turbaned cleric... I don’t like them, and of course they will never like somebody like me... (but) I feel I’ve been searching for Nasrallah with my eyes, heart and mind. I feel Nasrallah lives within me."

In the Lebanese capital, the shape and conduct of the international UN peacekeeping force hinged on its proposed relationship with Hezbollah.

France, the former colonial power in Lebanon and one of the first countries to offer soldiers to the force, said today that it was preparing to send troops but wanted the Lebanese army deployed first.

"France is ready to participate in a strengthened UNIFIL but the Lebanese army should deploy in southern Lebanon first," said Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French Foreign Minister.

Germany, sensitive to the prospect of German soldiers confronting Israel's Jewish soldiers, continued its delicate negotiations about what role German forces might play in monitoring the ceasefire and contributing to the rebuilding of Lebanon.

So far the Government of Chancellor Angela Merkel has refused to specify whether Germany will send soldiers, but today it released a statement hinting at a possible role for the German navy. Some German MPs have said the country's armed forces are already overstretched, with 7,700 soldiers overseas in Afghanistan, the Balkans and Congo.

"Our considerations are focusing on the humanitarian effort, reconstruction work and a contribution to securing the Syrian-Lebanese border, particularly on the coast," said the statement.

The wrangling over the international mission is said to be frustrating UN officials in New York, who are anxious to have extra peacekeepers on the ground by the end of next week to prevent the truce between Israel and Hezbollah breaking down.

Meanwhile, Israel gave warning that if the UN is unable to disarm the group, the fighting will resume. "If the international community decides to ignore Hezbollah’s refusal to disarm it means that sooner or later we will return to war," a senior foreign ministry official said today.

Dan Halutz, the Israeli army chief of staff, has said that Israeli forces could be gone by the end of next week, but will not leave until the UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army arrive to fill the vacuum. Today he stressed: "Israel will leave forces in Lebanon until the multinational force arrives, even if it takes months."