The United States said on Monday Israel may have violated an agreement with Washington in its use of U.S.-made cluster bombs during last July's war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

"There were likely violations," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

The State Department said it had delivered a classified preliminary report to the U.S. Congress on Monday indicating possible violations of a "use agreement" between the United States and Israel over the cluster bombs.

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McCormack declined to say how Israel violated U.S. rules in its use of U.S.-made rockets armed with cluster bombs in Lebanon, saying such information was classified.

A probe was opened last year after reports that three types of American cluster bombs were found in southern Lebanon and were responsible for civilian deaths.

Cluster bombs burst into bomblets and spread out near the ground. The United Nations has called for a freeze on the use of those bombs in or near populated areas.

Israel has defended its right to use cluster bombs and says it only deploys them in accordance with international law.

"We exercised our right of self-defense," said David Siegel, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington.

In Jerusalem, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mark Regev said: "Israel takes the concerns raised by the U.S. very seriously. In our response, we have been as detailed, as forthcoming and transparent as possible."

An Israel Defense Forces spokesman said the army had begun its own
investigation two months ago on its use of cluster bombs and declined comment until after that was complete.

The next move is up to Congress, which must decide whether action should be taken against Israel or if further information is needed, said McCormack.

One possibility is that Israel could be fined, but that is unlikely because of the close ties between the two nations. The United States is the biggest military donor to Israel, providing more than e2 billion in military aid each year.

Rights group: U.S. should cut off cluster bomb sales to Israel
The rights group Human Rights Watch said the results of the preliminary report should trigger an immediate cut-off of all U.S. cluster bomb sales to Israel and it urged the United States to outlaw such weapons because of the harm to civilians.

"We've investigated cluster munitions in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, but we've never seen use of cluster munitions that was so extensive and dangerous to civilians," said Steve Goose, director of the group's arms division.

He said the Reagan administration imposed a six-year ban on cluster weapons sales to Israel in 1982 after a Congressional investigation found that Israel had used them in populated areas during its 1982 invasion of Lebanon.

Asked whether the United States would support a freeze on
the use of cluster weapons, the State Department's McCormack said he was not aware of any change in U.S. policy in this regard.

Under the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, if the U.S. government believes a foreign country violated agreements over how U.S-made weapons were used, the administration must draw up a report and send its classified findings to Congress.

"This is not a final judgment ... but we do take our obligations under the law very seriously," he said. "We don't flinch from the facts," said McCormack.

The United States and Italy are among nations trying to remove tens of thousands of unexploded cluster bomblets in southern Lebanon.

The bombs, which are meant to explode near the ground but often do not, pose a huge danger to displaced civilians trying to return to villages after the 34-day war.

Cluster bombs wound two Belgian soldiers in south Lebanon
Two Belgian soldiers were wounded in a cluster bomb blast during a demining operation in southern Lebanon, Lebanese and UN sources said Monday.

The two Belgian soldiers were wounded in Kunin, southeast of the southern port city of Tyre, UN spokesman Liam McDowall said.

McDowall said one of the soldiers received wounds to the leg and the other to the head.

Belgium has deployed 370 troops to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), part of the beefed-up UN force deployed in southern Lebanon in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1701 which ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah last August.

Israel is reported to have dropped up to 1 million cluster bombs in Lebanon during the 33-day war. The UN says 40 per cent of the bomblets failed to explode on impact.

The unexploded ordnance has killed at least 27 people and wounded more than 143 in southern Lebanon since the conflict ended.

Italian Major-General arrives in Lebanon as new UN force chief
The new commander of the United Nations force in Lebanon, Major-General Claudio Graziano of Italy, arrived on Monday to take control of the operation charged with keeping the peace between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israel.

Graziano, who was selected by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier this month, succeeds Major-General Alain Pellegrini of France who led the UN force, known as UNIFIL, during last summer's war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.

A hand-over ceremony between Pellegrini and Graziano is scheduled to take place in south Lebanon on Friday.

The UN force currently has around 11,750 troops and other personnel. Under the UN Security Council resolution that brought a cease-fire to Lebanon in August, the force is to be expanded to 15,000 troops.

Graziano, an infantry officer trained in mountain warfare and airborne operations, has served in Mozambique and Afghanistan. He has been deputy chief of staff for operations at Italy's Joint Operations Headquarters since March 2006.

Also Monday, the second and final batch of Qatari peacekeepers arrived in Lebanon to join the UN force. The tiny Gulf state is the first Arab country to serve in the UN operation.

The 173 Qatari troops arrived at Beirut airport and took buses to their bases in southern Lebanon. The first batch of 30 Qatari peacekeepers arrived December 20.

UNIFIL has been in southern Lebanon on the tense border with Israel since 1978.

Last July, Israel launched an offensive on Lebanon following a cross-border raid by Hezbollah guerrillas, who killed three Israeli soldiers and captured two others.

During the 34-day conflict, more than 850 Lebanese, most of them civilians, were killed, and about 160 Israelis died.

More than 10,000 Lebanese troops have been deployed in southern Lebanon to reinforce the peacekeeping operation.