EU foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting today to discuss plans for an expanded United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.

European leaders moved forward today with plans for an international force in Lebanon, with an EU official saying it wants to see peacekeepers in place within a week and France preparing an announcement on troop commitments.

The foreign minister of Finland, which holds the European Union presidency, today said he was hopeful the first reinforcements to a UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon would arrive “within a week”.

Syria opposes the deployment of an international force along its border to prevent arms shipments to Hezbollah, and Israel is calling the situation in Lebanon “explosive”.

Syria has threatened to close its border with Lebanon if UN peacekeepers are deployed along the border, Finland’s foreign minister said today.

British foreign secretary Margaret Beckett said today’s watered-down EU statement on the conflict in the Middle East does not amount to a “green light” for Israel to continue its military offensive in Lebanon.

European Union foreign ministers today considered a call for an immediate ceasefire for south Lebanon, working to overcome British reluctance and form a united front.

The European Union’s presidency today warned that Israel’s offensive in southern Lebanon was unlikely to bring success and was instead bound to increase support for Hezbollah.

Israeli troops and tanks pulled out of northern Gaza early today after a bloody two-day sweep, killing 29 Palestinians, but Israeli aircraft pounded the area.

The European Union said today that Israel misinterpreted the outcome of the Middle East conference in Rome and that the fighting in Lebanon should cease immediately.

Israeli Cabinet ministers today decided not to expand the country’s Lebanon offensive, but ordered the call up of tens of thousands of reserve soldiers to boost the campaign, officials said.

Foreign ministers from the six powers pushing Iran to accept a package of incentives to suspend its nuclear programme met behind closed doors in Paris on Wednesday – the latest deadline in the stand-off, and one that Tehran looked set to ignore.

Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni was to hold talks with EU leaders in Finland today, as tensions in the Middle East increased after a deadline expired for Israel to release Palestinian prisoners.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is scheduled to discuss Tehran’s nuclear programme with European Union leaders in Vienna this week, ahead of talks with Iranian negotiators in Moscow.