World powers were gathering in Rome for Wednesday's crisis conference on the Middle East aimed at halting the bloodshed in Lebanon and Israel, but were deeply divided over how and when a ceasefire should take effect.
A top aide to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who arrived in Rome late on Tuesday, said a ceasefire would be hard to achieve.
"We desire a ceasefire tomorrow if it can be sustained and built in the proper way. Objectively this is going to be hard to do," said David Welch, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.
Ms Rice has rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire from some of Washington's European and Arab allies, saying the conflict can only be resolved by addressing its root causes.
That reflects a US policy that an immediate truce would give Hezbollah guerrillas time to rearm and fail to resolve the crisis long-term.
In turn, the US stance buys Israel time to accomplish its military objectives, which has angered Arab states ahead of the conference.
As part of its attempt to tackle what it sees as the underlying causes of the conflict, Washington also hopes to win support for some kind of measure to deter Syria and Iran from interfering in Lebanon.
The US holds Syria and Iran responsible for blocking the implementation of UN Resolution 1559, which calls on Syria to cease interference in its neighbour's political affairs.
"Those irresponsible voices will not be in Rome," Mr Welch said.
Showing no sign of relenting in an onslaught that has killed more than 380 people, mostly civilians, Israeli jets blasted Beirut and Israeli ground forces fought their way into the border town of Bint Jbeil, a Hezbollah military stronghold in southern Lebanon.
"Israel is determined to carry on the fight against Hezbollah," Isareli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said as he met Ms Rice in Jerusalem.
Wednesday's conference at Italy's foreign ministry will bring together ministers from 15 countries -- including Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the United States -- as well as the UN, the European Union and the World Bank.
"The primary objective is a ceasefire," Italy's Prime Minister Romano Prodi told reporters, although clear differences were emerging as to when a cessation of hostilities should begin.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Siniora had little hope of achieving an early ceasefire as he left bomb-battered Beirut for Italy.
"I want to be clear on this: I do not expect the Rome conference to lead to a ceasefire, even if we must do everything in our power to reach one," he said.
In a televised address, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said "we cannot accept any condition humiliating to our country, our people or our resistance.”
Mr Nasrallah said the war with Israel was entering a new phase, adding "in the new period, our bombardment will not be limited to Haifa,” without elaborating.
Arab nations will nevertheless continue to insist on an immediate ceasefire. Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia said they would speak with one voice at the talks.
They will call "for an immediate ceasefire, the end of hostilities and the strengthening of the Lebanese government," as well as recognition of Lebanese sovereignty "over all its territory," said Jordan's representative at the talks, Abdel Ilah Khatib.
UN mulls mandate
Linked to the ceasefire issue is the question of a stabilisation force for southern Lebanon.
The United Nations Security Council put off a decision on whether to agree a short extension of the mandate of the beleaguered UN force currently in Lebanon, pending the outcome of the Rome meeting.
"The general feeling in the council is that we must give some time, a month, to take into account the new situation," France's UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, the council president for July, told reporters.
Ambassadors of the 15-member body pored over the latest report by UN chief Kofi Annan, who has suggested deploying a much bigger UN stabilisation force in south Lebanon.
Mr Annan recommended that the mandate of the 2,000-strong UN observer force in south Lebanon (UNIFIL) be extended for only one month, despite a request for a six-month extension by Lebanon. UNIFIL’s six-month mandate expires on Monday.
US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton, meanwhile, said the council would have a clearer position on UNIFIL after the Rome meeting.
Mr De La Sabliere said a new force would have to be tasked with helping Lebanese authorities assert their control over their entire territory in line with Security Council resolution 1559, which also calls for the disarming of all militias.
UNIFIL, which was set up in March 1978 to oversee an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon that finally took place 22 years later, said Monday that Israel's onslaught was endangering its soldiers.
Led by a French general, UNIFIL is made up of soldiers from China, France, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy and Poland.
Saudi aid package
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, a key US ally in the Middle East, warned that Israel's devastating assaults on Gaza and Lebanon could spark regional.
The oil-rich kingdom pledged US$1 billion to support Lebanon's battered currency, US$500 million to fund reconstruction of its shattered infrastructure and US$50 million in immediate relief for its citizens. It also promised US$250 million for reconstruction in the Palestinian territories.
A statement issued by the royal court demanded a halt to the "killing and destruction" by the Israeli military, warning that its determination to press ahead with its twin offensives risked plunging the whole region into war.
The statement said the Saudi authorities had made every effort to "mobilise the international community to force Israel to accept a ceasefire".
As world leaders gathered in Rome, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to coordinate the two pro-Western governments' positions.
"Saudi Arabia and Egypt will make a forceful call for a ceasefire first and for agreement on an international initiative to resolve pending problems during the Rome conference on Wednesday," an Egyptian diplomatic source told news agency AFP after the meeting.
Blair and Bush to discuss Israel
British Prime Minister Tony Blair will go to the United States on Friday for talks with President George W. Bush on Israel and Lebanon as international efforts increase to resolve the conflict.
But his second visit to the White House in less than two months comes amid renewed questions about what influence he has on a US president bullish in his support for Israel despite overwhelming condemnation by most other countries.
According to some British political commentators, Mr Bush's preference for his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to mediate in the dispute demonstrates how the "special relationship" between London and Washington is far from equal.