AMMAN, 13 August 2006 — Key Middle East players were hopeful yesterday that a UN Security Council resolution would bring an end to the Lebanon conflict, even as Israel expanded its military offensive. The resolution called for a full halt to hostilities based upon “the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations.”

In the strongest regional reaction, Cairo urged Israel to “observe an immediate and complete cease-fire in order to allow the political agreement — achieved after significant efforts — to be applied.”

Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said “the first condition of this political accord is the Israeli Army’s total withdrawal from all Lebanese areas it entered since the start of the crisis.”

Other regional powers refrained from pressuring Israel and issued more muted responses, with Jordanian Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit expressing hope it would serve as a “first step” to ending the conflict.

“We hope that the Lebanese will accept the resolution,” Bakhit told reporters following talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. “It is a first step, we hope, to stop the bloodshed which is the priority now.” Abbas also said it was up to Lebanon to endorse the resolution. “First and foremost Lebanon must accept the resolution and I believe that Lebanon will accept it,” Abbas said.

Qatar, the only Arab state currently on the Security Council, said it had reservations because the text did not “clearly evoke the horror of the destruction caused by the Israeli aggression against innocent civilians.” However, it “accepted the resolution in order to bring an end to the bloodshed and avoid further destruction in Lebanon and the region,” the Qatari foreign minister said.

Non-Arab Iran, a staunch supporter of Hezbollah, rejected the resolution, saying it was biased because it called ambiguously for an end to “offensive” Israeli operations.

Israel and key ally the United States have often asserted the Jewish state’s “right to defend itself” against Hezbollah rocket attacks.

“UN Resolution 1701 is completely one-sided and it serves the Zionist regime’s interests,” Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said. “Some amendments need to be incorporated into the resolution,” he said, adding that the views of the Lebanese people and government “need to be taken into consideration.”

The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) — the largest Islamic body — welcomed the resolution for its inclusion of Lebanon’s view but “regretted” the month it took to reach agreement on the resolution.

The delay allowed “Israel (time) to practice savage and destructive acts against Lebanon’s civilians and infrastructure.”

Lebanese Communications Minister Marwan Hamadeh said his country was “inclined to accept” the UN resolution although it did not fully satisfy the Beirut government.

“It satisfies, more or less, the Lebanese government plan to extend state sovereignty over all its territory,” he added.

But acting Foreign Minister Tarek Mitri expressed profound doubts about the likelihood of the resolution being able to end the month-old war. “A cease-fire that is incomplete is not a true cease-fire. A cease-fire that retains for one side the right not to cease firing is not a cease-fire,” Mitri said after the vote in New York.

In Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert urged his Cabinet to accept the resolution when it meets today, and his deputy, Shimon Peres, welcomed the resolution because it fulfilled Israeli demands.