There is a real possibility that the United Nations Security Council will pass a resolution in the coming days that will signal the beginning of the end of the fighting in the Middle East.

The two key players involved are the United States and France. Their envoys were locked in detailed talks yesterday for more than three hours to discuss the wording of the resolution, based largely on a draft text circulated by France at the weekend.

But there remain unresolved differences, which could yet scupper an agreement. Diplomats are working to resolve the issues, and that is probably why Tony Blair has postponed his holiday. He will not want to leave while the issue remains unresolved.

The document is likely to call for an immediate end to hostilities, and open the way for the deployment of a monitoring force, based largely on the UN’s existing Unifil troops.

A second resolution would be needed to authorise a larger peacekeeping effort, likely to be a French-led multinational force of some 15,000 troops, that could include Italian, German, Belgian and Turkish soldiers.

Apart from differences over wording, the central problem is what is known as "sequencing".

Israel and America would like the multinational force - it would prefer a Nato-led effort - to take over directly from Israeli troops who have established a foothold in South Lebanon. They believe that it is vital that Hezbollah be prevented from returning to its stronghold and re-establishing itself.

The French, on the other hand, do not want to be seen as working alongside the Israelis, and do not want to send their troops into an active war zone. They would prefer to deploy once both sides have respected a truce and the Israelis have left.

The French make the point that since they will be contributing forces - not America - they should be allowed to set the conditions under which there are deployed.

A big unresolved issue is what happens once the guns fall silent. The international community wants to ensure that the situation on the ground is altered so that the same conditions do not arise again and a new round of fighting breaks out at a later date.

The French want to resolve all outstanding differences, including the release of all prisoners from both sides, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Shebaa Farms, a small pocket of disputed territory, that would allow the Israeli-Lebanese border to be respected.

The biggest issue, however, is what to do about Hezbollah. Under the terms of UN Security Council resolution 1559, all militias are supposed to be disarmed in Lebanon and security placed in the hands of the Lebanese Government.

But Hezbollah is far more powerful than the authorities in Beirut, and it receives arms, training and funding from Iran and Syria.

America and Israel want the organisation disbanded and all future arms supplies halted. However, that is a tall order for the new multinational force to enforce. If Israel is unable to defeat Hezbollah using the full unrestrained might of its armed forces, a 15,000-strong European force of peacekeepers is even less likely to achieve this.

The French have clashed with Hezbollah in the past, the last time they sent in troops to police a ceasefire after an Israeli incursion into Lebanon, in 1983. Then they lost 56 soldiers in a single Hezbollah terrorist attack, which was designed to drive them out.

They will not want to repeat that experience, and will want any solution to be concluded with Hezbollah’s agreement. They are already courting Iran to help make that happen.

One possible compromise would be to integrate Hezbollah forces into the Lebanese Army, possibly as a national guard.

Ultimately this issue will determine whether this round of diplomacy can really bring peace to Lebanon, or if it is just a lull ahead of the next round of violence.

Much now depends on how the talks go over the weekend. Preparations are under way for foreign ministers to attend a special council meeting either Monday or Tuesday when the resolution would be passed, probably with unanimous support.

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