The United Nations Security Council on Friday called on Hezbollah to immediately and unconditionally release abducted Israel Defense Forces soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser.

In a Presidential Statement, the Security Council expressed concern over the fact that the soldiers are still being held by Hezbollah, and that the organization has yet to provide any sign of life from the two.

Regev and Goldwasser were abducted along Israel's northern border on July 12 of last year in a cross-border raid that sparked the Second Lebanon War.

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The council also expressed concern over allegations that Lebanese and non-Lebanese groups and militias are being rearmed, and over recent statements by Hezbollah that it retains the military capacity to strike any part of Israel.

The statement was formulated by the United States and France, and published as the Security Council's response to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's report on the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution 1701, which served as a basis for a cease-fire in the war.

It goes on to express support for Ban and his ongoing efforts to ensure the resolution be fully implemented.

The 15-member council unanimously approved the statement, which also expressed concern over the ongoing arms smuggling across the Syria-Lebanon border and the continued procurement of weapons by non-governmental militias. It also criticized continued Israel Air Force overflights in southern Lebanese airspace.

Talks on the statement lasted nearly one month, due reservations by Qatar, whose UN delegation tried to add changes to the statement up until the last minute.

Nonetheless, senior Israeli officials at the UN expressed satisfaction over the fact that the council issued the statement, saying it would help pave the way for an extended presence of UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

"This statement is an important step toward a Security Council decision to extend UNIFIL's mandate in southern Lebanon, which is expected at the end of the month," a senior Israeli diplomat told Haaretz on Friday.

The Israeli delegation however expressed concern that the current situation in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah is regaining its military strength, was not sufficiently addressed in the statement.

Lebanon's UN Ambassador Nawaf Salam welcomed the positive points in the statement including the council's support for the country's sovereignty and for full implementation of the resolution ending the war.

"Lebanon also welcomes the council's respect for the UN-drawn blue line boundary with Israel, its support for controlling the Syria-Lebanon border, and for the secretary-general's proposals to deal with disputed territory on the Lebanon-Syria-Israel border," he said.

But Salam criticized the council's refusal to strongly condemn Israel's repeated violation of Lebanese airspace, its refusal to express concern over the long-term suffering of Lebanese prisoners in Israel, and to demand to that Israel hand over all information it has on land mines in southern Lebanon, not just on cluster bombs.

The presidential statement expresses deep concern over the increase in Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace and appeals to all parties concerned to respect the cessation of hostilities and the Blue Line border betwen Israel and Lebanon, mapped after Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000.