United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern for the lives of the two Israeli soldiers abducted in Lebanon last summer.

Unfortunately, the situation is aggravated by Hezbollah's persistent refusal to provide a proof of life. Worries about the fate of the two soldiers are therefore increasing. "I share deeply the anxiety of the families and call again on Hezbollah to reconsider this posture, which contradicts basic humanitarian values," Ban wrote in a report the Security Council on Friday.

Ban also warned of expected difficulties in the continued practical implementation of Resolution 1701. The report is a periodic assessment of the implementation of the resolution passed on August 11, 2006, which ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

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Talks between Israel and Hezbollah are proceeding through a German intelligence agent appointed by the previous UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.

The report implies that Iran and Syria continue to send the latest weaponry to Hezbollah, including anti-tank missiles and aircraft.

"The secretary-general is using harsh words with regard to Iran and Syria," a senior diplomatic source in New York said Friday. "It can be concluded that the report is in part an indictment of the two countries that have been exposed as being involved in activity whose goal is the destabilization of Lebanon. If Iran and Syria continue their subversive activities, they will be the downfall of Resolution 1701," the official added

"I am deeply concerned that Lebanon remains in the midst of a debilitating political crisis and faces ongoing attacks aimed at destabilizing and undermining its sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. Against this background, I am concerned that continued implementation of resolution 1701 [2006] may face repeated difficulties," Ban wrote.

According to Israel, Ban wrote in the report, the arms being smuggled from Syria to Lebanon include missiles with a range of 250 kilometers, "enabling Hezbollah to rearm to the same levels as before last year's war or beyond."

Ban also noted that he has received new information from the Lebanese government on weapons smuggling via the Syrian border.

"The government of Lebanon has informed me that on June 6, 2007, four truck carriers, each carrying two vehicles mounted with 40-barrel rocket launchers [a total of eight rocket launchers] were seen by the Lebanese Army heading from Al-Kafeer in the Syrian Arab Republic across the Syrian-Lebanese border to Idriss Fortress and then on to a PFLP-GC [Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command] outpost in Jabal al-Maaysara," the report stated.

Ban also noted that UNIFIL (the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) reported "a significant increase in Israeli air violations, through jet and unmanned aerial vehicle overflights of Lebanese territory."

The secretary-general also harshly criticized Israel on the matter of cluster bombs. According to the report, over 900 cluster-bomb sites have been identified, 50 of them in recent months. Ban expressed his regret that "despite a number of attempts by UN senior officials to obtain information regarding the firing data of cluster munitions utilized during last summer's conflict, Israel has yet to provide this critical data."

With regard to the June 24 killing of six Spanish UNIFIL peacekeepers, the report stated that "once the investigation into the June 24 attack is concluded, security arrangements will be further adjusted if and as necessary to mitigate the potential for future such incidents." Ban called the Katyusha attacks on Kiryat Shmona in mid-June "deeply troubling."

Ban also wrote that, "In addition to the valuable assistance being provided by the German pilot project along the northern border and their proposals for Lebanese integrated border management, further international assistance is urgently required to enhance Lebanese capabilities and to ensure that there are no breaches of the arms embargo."

Ban also reported that a "senior cartographer" had made "solid progress toward a provisional determination of the geographic extent of the Shaba Farms area" and that this individual would be visiting Israel within the next few weeks. In about three months, a report is to be submitted on the matter of the disputed lands on Mount Dov near the meeting point of the Israel-Syrian and Lebanese borders on the slope of Mount Hermon.