Key powers agree deal to end Israel-Hizbollah war

An Israeli political source said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was reviewing the draft resolution. Earlier in the day, Israel ordered an expansion of its ground offensive and said it would press ahead with the campaign if it was unhappy with any deal.

Israeli tank forces were preparing for orders to sweep into Lebanon after the wider offensive was approved, Israeli TV said.

"We have an agreed text," Beckett told reporters, adding she hoped that Israel and Lebanon would abide by it. She said the full Security Council would receive the draft at 1900 GMT.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew to New York in anticipation of a vote on ending the war, in which at least 1,030 people in Lebanon and 123 Israelis have been killed.

She was set to meet U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the United Nations said. French officials said Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy was en route to the United Nations.

A senior Lebanese political source said Lebanese leaders had made progress in talks with a U.S. official in Beirut and Beirut had no further major objections to the proposed deal.

Israel's Channel 10 quoted Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as telling Rice by telephone earlier on Friday that Israel's acceptance of the resolution "could not be taken for granted".

Israel's security cabinet had authorised expanding the ground war on Wednesday, with some talking of a 30-day push deeper into Lebanon. But ministers had later said the expansion was put on hold to allow more time for diplomacy.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said in Beirut that if a deal was not reached this week: "It would not be a short war, it would be a long war ... that would be very dangerous."

There was no immediate let-up in the violence in Lebanon and Israel. Air raids killed another 19 people in Lebanon. An Israeli soldier was reported killed in fighting and Hizbollah rockets wounded seven people in northern Israel.

Israeli raids on a bridge near the border with Syria killed 12 people and wounded 18, hospital staff said. Witnesses said a second strike hit the bridge 15 minutes after the first had brought rescuers rushing to the scene.

Israeli strikes killed two people in the eastern Bekaa Valley and five in south Lebanon, security sources said.

An Israeli soldier was killed and one was badly wounded in fighting with Hizbollah guerrillas, Al Arabiya television reported. The Israeli army had no immediate comment.

More bombs hit Beirut's battered Shi'ite Muslim suburbs, hours after dawn raids on the capital. Many people fled the suburbs on Thursday after Israel dropped warning leaflets.

Hizbollah, whose seizure of two Israeli soldiers sparked the war on July 12, fired more than 55 rockets into Israel, wounding seven people, police and ambulance staff said.

Humanitarian agencies sought ways to get aid to an estimated 100,000 people trapped in southern Lebanon and the mayor of Tyre said the city could run out of food in two days.

Aid convoys have been unable to deliver supplies since an Israeli air strike hit a bridge on the Litani River on Monday.

A deal on a resolution had been delayed over the timing of an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Lebanon wanted a quick Israeli pullout, but Israel had said a strong multinational force must be deployed first.

The latest compromise calls for a phased Israeli withdrawal as the Lebanese army moves into the south. At the same time, the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon would be reinforced by up to 15,000 French and other troops.

As part of the deal, Hizbollah would pull out from south of the Litani River, 20 km (13 miles) from the Israeli border.

A second resolution on a permanent ceasefire would follow within a month, tackling a range of outstanding issues, including the release of the two soldiers held by Hizbollah.

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