Soldiers from both Israel and Lebanon died in southern Lebanon today as senior EU officials began hammering out details of an Italian-led peacekeeping force.

Despite the shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah the Israeli army fired artillery rounds into a disputed border region in response to what it said was an attack from inside Lebanon.

Israel claimed there was a three-hour exchange of fire in the disputed Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms area, where the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Israel converge.

Lebanese officials said Israeli artillery fire landed near Lebanese army positions at the village of Shebaa but caused no injuries. Lebanese forces entered Shebaa last week for the first time in four decades as part of the ceasefire deal.

In separate incidents, an Israeli soldier was killed and three were wounded when their tank drove over a land mine planted by Israel itself on the border with southern Lebanon to deter Hezbollah infiltrations. Three Lebanese soldiers were killed dismantling an unexploded missile near Tibnine in southern Lebanon.

The UN-brokered ceasefire, which began on 14 August, has been marked by sporadic firing, but has largely held.

In Brussels today Italy pressed fellow EU nations to join it in pledging troops for the UN peacekeeping force as senior foreign and defence officials from the 25 EU states began preparing for a summit of EU Foreign Ministers on Friday to be attended by Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General.

The summit was requested by Massimo D’Alema, the Italian Foreign Minister. Italy has said it will provide 3,000 troops out of a peacekeeping force of 15,000, which it is expected to command.

“But we need to know how many other countries will put boots on the ground,” said Arturo Parisi, the Defence Minister.

France has so far offered only 200 troops, voicing doubts shared by many European states - including Spain, Belgium and Finland, which currently holds the EU Presidency - over the peacekeepers’ mandate and rules of engagement, particularly the disarming of Hezbollah. UN officials fear a “security vacuum” if uncertainty persists.

The UN force would be deployed alongside a similar number of Lebanese soldiers, with UN officials hoping to assemble an advance force of 3,500 troops by the beginning of September.

Romano Prodi, the Centre Left Italian Prime Minister, argues that although Italy is already committed militarily in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan it has a “moral and strategic” interest in helping secure peace in the Mediterranean and Middle East.

Signor Prodi also stressed Italy’s commitment to Europe, which he believes was downplayed under the pro-American Centre Right administration of Silvio Berlusconi, his predecessor.

Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French Foreign Minister, said a French decision on deployments depended on “cler terms” for the mission.

“You can’t decide just like that to send in thousands of men,” he told French television. The draft UN rules of engagement for the Lebanon force are reported to allow UN troops to shoot in self-defence, use force to protect civilians and “resist armed attempts to interfere with their duties.”

Signor D’Alema will hold talks in Rome on Thursday with Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Foreign Minister, who today met M Douste-Blazy in Paris. French officials said he had pressed Israel to lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon.

Italian officials said that both Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, and President Vladimir Putin had telephoned Signor Prodi to support Italy’s prospective leadership of the UN mission.

Turkey, Morocco, New Zealand, China and Nepal are considering contributing to the UN force, but Israel has vetoed offers from Malaysia, Bangladesh and Indonesia on the grounds that they do not do not recognise the Jewish state.

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