BRUSSELS (EJP)--- Two European officials are to visit the Mideast in the coming days to discuss the situation in the region as the Israel-Hezbollah war enters its second month.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana will pay another visit to the Middle East over the next weekend to discuss possible ways to end the fighting there, his office told EJP Thursday.

Solana will leave for the Mideast on August 11 from Spain and plans to visit Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Mary Brazier, Solana’s press officer, told EJP. He will return on August 13.

It will be Solana’s second visit to the region since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah erupted on 12 July.

Another EU official, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel, has announced he will visit Lebanon on August 14-16 and Israel on August 17.

Continuing efforts

Earlier this month, EU foreign ministers, who held an emergency meeting on the Mideast crisis, have decided to give Solana a mandate “to remain engaged and to remain in contact with all the relevant parties and to be ready to contribute to a political solution and to the peace process.”

“Solana is encouraging the process to find a solution to the conflict. The EU is currently actively engaged in supporting the efforts at the United Nations level,” Brazier told EJP.

“He is going to meet with the key players in order to show the EU engagement and to discuss the situation and latest developments.”

The announcement of the trip comes just before a decision by Israel’s security cabinet to expand the army’s ground offensive in Lebanon.

Asked if Solana is optimistic about his mission, Brazier responded: “I can just say that he is working actively to support the process to find an agreement. As we said from the beginning, the EU wants an immediate cessation of hostilities and a process to be launched which will lead to the creation of a political framework and provide a lasting solution to the conflict.”

“That process will be launched with the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution,” she added.

“Solana is supporting the efforts to achieve a consensus on a text of a Security Council resolution which could be agreed, accepted and implemented by everybody,” she said.

The press officer said Solana was working with the five EU members at the UN. Security Council to accommodate Lebanese demands as much as possible in a resolution aimed at ending the conflict.

Ceasefire call

Lebanon wants an immediate ceasefire and a quick pullout of Israeli troops from the south, where it says 15,000 Lebanese soldiers backed by U.N. peacekeepers can move in.

The US and France have agreed to change a draft resolution after Lebanon said it would deploy the soldiers. But they differ on when an international force, expected to be led by France, should move in and when Israel should withdraw.

French President Jacques Chirac: France may press ahead alone and submit a resolution to the UN Security Council, with or without US support. Photo: AFP Copyright 2006

Israel says it will only withdraw when a foreign force and the Lebanese army take over to keep Hizbollah at bay.

On Wednesday, the president of the European Parliament, Josep Borrell Fontelles, called on the UN Security Council to "assume its responsibility and to adopt a resolution for an immediate ceasefire".

In a joint statement issued after a meeting with the presidents of the Greek, Egyptian and Tunisian parliaments, Borrell termed the conflict "senseless and barbaric".

Condemning the military attacks, and particularly the civilian casualties, the statement called on the European Union to take "a strong, clear and determined role ... to re-establish the dialogue between all parties concerned".

Michel visit

In advance of his trip, Commissioner Michel said: "Secure humanitarian access to victims of the conflict and an end to hostilities – these are the top priorities that I will address during my visit."

In Tel Aviv, he will meet the foreign minister Tzipi Livni and defence minister Amir Peretz.

In addition to the 20 million euros already committed for relief activities in Lebanon, the European Commission is proposing the allocation of further substantial humanitarian support, drawing on the emergency reserve of the EC budget.

The aim is to increase the overall amount available to 50 million euros, the Commission said.