Hours after Israel ended its eight-week embargo on flights in and out of Lebanon, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called Thursday for a speedy deployment of United Nations naval forces to Lebanese waters, and said he hopes their quick arrival would allow Israel to lift its sea blockade.

Israel lifted its blockade of Lebanese airports on Thursday at 6 P.M., but delayed the planned end to a seige on sea ports for 48 hours.

"We decided today in coordination with the commander of the UN troops in the Middle East... not to lift the naval blockade in Lebanon at this stage until the naval forces that are slated to continue this closure in our place arrive," Olmert said in a statement issued by his office.

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"I really hope that Italy's, France's and Greece's naval forces, which are going to continue the surveillance of the Lebanese ports in our place, will organize quickly and that we can pull back when they take up positions," he said. He spoke after meeting visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

UN Secretary-General Koffi Annan had brokered a deal in which French, Italian, Greek and later German ships would patrol Lebanon's coast in place of Israeli military forces, which had been blockading Lebanon by sea to keep weapons from being shipped to Hezbollah.

France already has two frigates and a transport ship in the eastern Mediterranean to support humanitarian efforts in Lebanon.

Lavrov: Arab states want peace

During his meeting with Olmert, Lavrov said he found a willingness in the Arab countries to start a dialogue with Israel.

Lavrov arrived in Israel after stops in Syria, which Israel accuses of supplying Hezbollah with arms, and Lebanon.

"I want to say to the prime minister ... that today everybody wants peace more than ever, peace and security," Olmert's office quoted Lavrov as saying.

"The sides prefer the position that they don't want never-ending arguments," he added. "The only thing people want is to sit around the negotiating table."

Olmert reiterated his readiness to meet with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora. Last week, Saniora rejected the idea of talks with Israel, saying that Lebanon would "be the last Arab country that could sign a peace agreement with Israel."

Siniora said on Thursday he expected Israel to lift the sea blockade on the country on Friday.

"There was a problem at the United Nations that is being resolved," Siniora told a news conference when asked why the end of the naval siege had been delayed. "Be sure the embargo will be lifted... It's a small problem at night, and I think that in the morning, God willing, this thing will be lifted."

A Lebanese airliner was seen circling Beirut shortly after 6 P.M., signifying the official end to the blockade.

Spain's Parliament voted overwhelmingly Thursday to contribute 1,100 troops to the expanded United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. Of 308 lawmakers present in the 350-seat Congress of Deputies, 306 voted in favor, none against and two abstained.

The Lebanese Finance Ministry estimated Thursday that the initial cost of the blockade would come to around $45 million a day.

"The direct impact of the blockade on trade activity alone is estimated at around $45 million a day," Finance Minister Jihad Azour told reporters.

"The impact goes further than this in terms of tourism activity, several other sectors and finances."

The French foreign minister said Thursday that Paris had agreed to a request from United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to monitor Lebanese waters to ensure that weapons don't reach Hezbollah.

Philippe Douste-Blazy made the comments at a news conference two days after French President Jacques Chirac gave his tentative support for the request.

"We're going to make sure there are no deliveries" of arms by Hezbollah, Douste-Blazy said. "We have accepted" Annan's offer, he added.

On Wednesday Israel announced that it would lift the air and naval blockade on Lebanon at 6 P.M. Thursday. The blockade began after Hezbollah's raid into Israel and the abduction of two Israel Defense Forces soldiers on July 12.

Families furious over decision to lift blockade
Ahead of their meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday, the families of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev said they are furious at the government's decision to remove the air and sea blockade of Lebanon, Israel Radio reported.

Shlomo Goldwasser, Ehud's father, said that the families expected Israel would remove the blockade only after receiving a sign of life from the abductees.

Eldad Regev's brother, Benny, told Army Radio on Thursday that removing the blockade leaves Israel without an important instrument in the struggle for releasing the soldiers.

The abductees "are currently in Lebanon and once the blockade is removed they could be taken to Tehran," he told the radio.

"Take [missing airman] Ron Arad... they could end up the same," he added.