JERUSALEM, 27 August 2006 — Israel said yesterday it was encouraging some Muslim countries to send peacekeepers to southern Lebanon, a contribution that would lend credibility to the heavily European force.

EU nations pledged 6,900 troops on Friday, dispelling concerns that the peacekeeping force might not materialize because of reluctance to send troops without clear instructions or authorization to use their weapons.

But the force was still far short of the 15,000 troops envisioned under a resolution that stopped a month of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

The EU and UN agree the peacekeeping mission must have a strong Muslim component to give it credibility. Israel, however, objects to nations that do not recognize the Jewish state, saying such troops would make it impossible for Jerusalem to share intelligence with the UN force. That would exclude Indonesia, Bangladesh and Malaysia, which have offered troops.

But Israel said it has been in touch with other Muslim countries to encourage them to participate, particularly Turkey, which has diplomatic relations with Israel.

“If Turkey decides to send a contingent, we would welcome that,” said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev. Jordan and Egypt also are among Muslim countries that have diplomatic relations with Israel.

The international force is to reinforce the Lebanese Army, which is moving 15,000 soldiers of its own into the south. They are the first assertion of central authority in the region along the Israeli border in decades. But 13 days after Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a cease-fire, questions remained about how to enforce the vague truce and prevent the area from exploding again. It was unclear how the United Nations would meet Israel’s demand to prevent Hezbollah from rearming.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed Friday it was not the peacekeepers’ task to strip Hezbollah of its weapons, saying that was an issue for Lebanon’s government and “cannot be done by force.”

“The troops are not going there to disarm Hezbollah. Let’s be clear about that,” he said.

Regev reiterated Israel would not lift its air and sea embargo of Lebanon until peacekeepers take positions along the Syrian border to block alleged arms shipments to Hezbollah. But Annan said peacekeepers would deploy on the Syrian border only at Lebanon’s request, which Beirut has yet to make. Such a move would aggravate tensions with Syria, which views the deployment of international troops along the border as a hostile act.

“The resolution does not require the deployment of UN troops to the border,” Annan said at a news conference after a three-hour meeting with the 25 EU ministers on Friday.

Regev, however, said that sending troops to Syrian border is key to enforcing an international arms embargo against Hezbollah imposed under the cease-fire resolution.

“The cease-fire calls for an international arms embargo against Hezbollah,” Regev said. “So Israel will be willing to allow for unfettered access in and out of Lebanon the minute those international and Lebanese forces are enforcing the arms embargo.”

A senior German leader said yesterday that German sailors must be empowered to board ships against the will of their crew in order to prevent arms smuggling to Lebanon.

Germany is offering to patrol Lebanon’s coast rather than send ground troops as part of the UN peacekeeping force.

“To prevent arms smuggling from the sea, we need a robust mandate that allows the navy to stop and check suspicious ships against their will,” Vice Chancellor Franz Muentefering was quoted as saying in the Tagesspiegel newspaper.

Muentefering said German forces faced a “serious” role in the UN mission. “We cannot expect that arms suppliers will see it as a friendly act if German and other troops guard the coast and prevent their weapons deliveries,” he said.

The promised 6,900 European soldiers did not include naval units, air support or peacekeepers already on the ground. Annan said the cease-fire was holding with few infractions but urged the EU to move swiftly to get its soldiers to region. He said he hoped the expanded force could start deploying in “days, not weeks.” He had earlier set a target date of Sept. 2.