TONY BLAIR and President Bush have vowed to push for a UN resolution next week authorising a multinational force to help the Lebanese Army to take over Hezbollah-controlled territory in south Lebanon.

The two leaders said that the UN resolution would help to bring closer an end to the fighting — but gave no clear timetable.

However, Jan Egeland, the UN humanitarian chief, last night insisted that the civilians trapped by the fighting could not wait that long. Mr Egeland called for an immediate 72-hour truce in Lebanon to evacuate civilians and replenish food and medical supplies.

Mr Blair emphasised that the planned multinational force would not fight its way in. “This can only work if Hezbollah are prepared to allow it to work,” he said.

Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, will return to the Middle East today to seek Lebanese and Israeli approval for the planned multinational force.

Potential troop contributors will meet at UN headquarters in New York on Monday. The United States will be represented by Nicholas Burns, the No 3 official in the State Department. France, Italy, Turkey, and Indonesia have signalled their readiness to participate in such a mission. British officials said that the force would not enter the zone until the violence had ended.

Foreign Ministers from the 15 Security Council nations made tentative plans to gather in New York next week.

“A multinational force must be dispatched to Lebanon quickly to augment a Lebanese army as it moves to the south of that country,” Mr Bush said.

“An effective multinational force will help speed delivery of humanitarian relief, facilitate the return of displaced persons and support the Lebanese government as it asserts full sovereignty over its territory.”

Mr Blair and Mr Bush repeatedly invoked UN resolutions calling for Hezbollah to disarm and for the Lebanese Government to extend its authority across the entire country.

Mr Bush made clear that the UN resolution would be passed under the “enforcement provisions” of Chapter VII of the UN Charter, making it compulsory for Hezbollah to respect it.But neither leader explained what would happen if Hezbollah refused to abide by a peace agreement to which it would not be a party.

“We’ve got to make sure that we go in as part of an agreement that the Government of Lebanon have bound themselves to, the Government of Israel has bound itself to, the international community has bound itself to,” Mr Blair said.

A ceasefire deal could be agreed within days, not weeks, diplomatic sources in Beirut said. British officials have had “a torrent of contacts” with foreign governments in the past three days to put together a deal they believe will satisfy both sides, and were optimistic that they would succeed.

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