Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. and France agreed on a proposed United Nations Security Council resolution designed to end the fighting between Israel and the militant Islamic group Hezbollah in Lebanon. Lebanon and Qatar voiced reservations.

The resolution calls for a ``full cessation of hostilities,'' including the ``immediate'' end of all Hezbollah attacks and ``all offensive military operations'' by Israel, according to a copy provided by the French mission to the UN. Hezbollah is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel and the U.S.

U.S. President George W. Bush is ``happy'' with the agreement and ``signed off on it,'' White House press secretary Tony Snow told reporters in Crawford, Texas, today. Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, the French envoy to the UN, called the draft a ``unique opportunity for the people of Lebanon and Israel'' during a press conference in New York.

Bush met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley at his Crawford, Texas, ranch today to discuss the resolution, Snow said.

Further Negotiations

Praise was not unanimous. The ambassador for Qatar, the Security Council's only Muslim member, said his country required further negotiations on some elements of the draft.

``Today we call for a cessation of hostility, and what after that?'' Nassir al-Nasser said. ``The Israeli forces are on the territory of Lebanon. They should go back beyond the Blue Line,'' he said, referring to the Israel-Lebanon border.

The UN Security Council met at 3:30 p.m. New York time to consider the resolution in an effort to end the fighting, which broke out on July 12 when Hezbollah took two Israeli soldiers prisoner. The proposed resolution, which is being circulated among diplomats, hasn't yet been formally submitted. Discussions were scheduled to continue into tomorrow.

The resolution ``begins the process of putting in place the foundation for a lasting solution to the problem,'' John Bolton, the U.S. envoy to the UN, said. ``Obviously this resolution alone isn't that solution, but it's the beginning.''

U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair called the resolution ``an absolutely vital first step in bringing this tragic crisis to an end.''

Buffer Zone

The draft resolution also calls for the establishment of a buffer zone between the Israeli-Lebanese border and the Litani River, which runs across southern Lebanon, in some places as far as 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of the border. Only the Lebanese military and a UN-mandated international force would be allowed in the area.

That force would be mandated in a separate resolution following UN Security Council consensus that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to respect the territorial integrity of each other and support a permanent cease-fire as part of a ``long-term solution.'' Israel is also called on to provide the UN with maps of land mines it planted inside Lebanon.

Referring to a 2004 resolution calling for the disarming of all armed groups inside Lebanon, the draft also calls for the delineation of Lebanon's borders, including that of the disputed Shebaa farms site. The area abuts Israel, Lebanon and Syria. Israel captured the area, which had been administered by Syria, in the 1967 war. Hezbollah cites the region's status as justification for its attacks on Israel.

Prisoner Release

The resolution calls for the release of the Israeli soldiers and progress on resolving the fate of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel. The international community is asked to help aid the return of displaced people, which the French envoy said numbered 700,000, and the reopening of airports and ports damaged in the fighting.

Al-Nasser also said there was no assurance any Lebanese prisoners would be released if the Israeli soldiers are freed.

Lebanese envoy Nouhad Mahmoud seconded the demand for the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers, saying their continued presence is a ``recipe for more confrontation.'' He also said his government wanted more clarity on the Shebaa Farms question. He said he presented unidentified amendments to the text.

``We have to address the concerns of the Lebanese people, otherwise it won't fly there on the ground,'' he said. He also questioned the mandate of an international force that would seek to pacify southern Lebanon.

``From the very beginning, we said disarmament cannot be by force,'' he said. Any UN-mandated force should only support the Lebanese military, he said, lest it be perceived as a ``hostile force.''

Annan's Role

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who called Chirac and Bush yesterday to press for an agreement, is tasked with helping implement the agreement, and is called on to report back to the Security Council within a week on progress, and within 30 days on the Shebaa farms question.

Hezbollah, founded in 1982, is sponsored by Syria and Iran. The group has been linked to scores of terrorist attacks on Israelis and Americans, including rocket assaults on Israeli towns, separate bombings in 1983 in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. servicemen at their barracks and 58 French soldiers at their base in the city, and the 1994 attack that killed 85 people at a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.

France has been in contact with Iran, Axel Cruau, a French UN mission spokesman, said. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy met with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki in Beirut July 31 as part of continuing bilateral contacts, Cruau said.

Mohammed Fneish, one of two Hezbollah ministers in the Siniora government, said the group will continue fighting as long as Israeli soldiers remain in Lebanon, the Associated Press reported.

Continued Fighting

The two sides exchanged attacks today, with Israel bombing at least 200 targets across southern Lebanon after Hezbollah rockets landed near the Israeli town of Hadera, about 95 miles (150 kilometers) from the border, late last night. A Hezbollah rocket killed three people in the Israeli Arab town of Al-Aramsha near the Lebanese border today, police said.

Israeli naval commandos killed as many as 10 Hezbollah fighters in the port city of Tyre overnight, 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of the border, according to an Israeli army spokesman who spoke on condition of anonymity. With Israeli helicopter gunships firing from above, eight Israelis were wounded, two seriously, he said. Hezbollah killed an Israeli in a separate exchange of fire.

Hezbollah labeled the attack on Tyre a failure, saying it killed one of the commandos, left eight injured and drove away the Israeli force. Israel said its forces killed as many as three senior Hezbollah members after locating them in the second-floor apartment of a five-story building. They withdrew when they came under fire from other Hezbollah gunmen in the building and killed seven more, the army spokesman said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Todd Zeranski at the United Nations at tzeranski@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 5, 2006 19:20 EDT