KOFI ANNAN, the UN Secretary-General, demanded a swift end to the air and sea blockade of Lebanon by Israel yesterday as he arrived in Jerusalem on the second leg of a Middle East tour designed to shore up the fragile 15-day truce.

Mr Annan also called for a quick release of the two Israeli soldiers whose kidnap by Hezbollah led to the 34-day conflict before he met the men’s families.

The Secretary-General held talks with Amir Peretz, the Israeli Defence Minister, late last night and was due to hold further discussions with Ehud Olmert, the Prime Minister, and Tzipi Livni, the Foreign Minister, this morning.

After meeting Mr Peretz, Mr Annan said of the UN peacekeeping troops in Lebanon: “We should be able to double relatively quickly the 2,500 men we have on the ground and move up to 5,000 so that the Israelis can withdraw.”

Israel is adamant that it will lift its blockade only once it is sure of an effective embargo enforced by the international peacekeepers to prevent Syria from re-arming Hezbollah. Lebanon has already said that it is capable of enforcing the embargo using its own troops on the border with Syria.

The UN ceasefire resolution plainly outlines that Beirut must request the international troops’ assistance for such an operation, something that it appears unwilling to do.

“We need to resolve the issue of the abducted soldiers very quickly,” Mr Annan said earlier, as he visited Naqoura, in southern Lebanon. “We need to deal with the lifting of the embargo — sea, land and air — which for the Lebanese is a humiliation and an infringement on their sovereignty.”

However, Israel is likely to dig in its heels to ensure that Hezbollah’s stocks of weapons and Katyusha rockets — of which 4,000 were fired into Israel during the conflict — are not replenished by Iran through Syria. Miri Eisen, the Israeli Government spokeswoman, said: “Israel will be happy to stop the sea and aerial blockade if we feel the land crossings would not be the main smuggling routes.”

At a base in Naqoura, Mr Annan reviewed troops from the 2,000-strong Unifil peacekeeping force that will be expanded to 15,000 to take on its new mandate of monitoring the ceasefire. The Secretary-General also flew by helicopter over southern Lebanon to see the terrain in which the new force will be called upon to operate, before he travelled on to Tel Aviv. In his meeting with Mr Annan today, Mr Olmert is expected to reiterate the Israeli demand that Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the kidnapped soldiers, be returned unconditionally. The men’s families said they hoped that Mr Annan could ensure their release.Karnit Goldwasser, the wife of one of the soldiers, said: “We got a personal pledge from [Mr Annan] to get the kidnapped soldiers home.”

Benny Regev, brother of the other soldier, said earlier: “The UN decided that Lebanon, the Lebanese Government and Hezbollah must release the soldiers without conditions. This was the resolution. We expect him to act toward achieving it.”

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