"We have received assurance from Mr. Pedersen that the blockade would be lifted in the coming days or within a week, the Israeli government is meeting tomorrow (Sunday) and a decision could be taken along those lines," Murr told journalists.

Israel has imposed a debilitating blockade of Lebanon since launching an offensive against Hezbollah militants on July 12.

The Jewish state has demanded that international forces and Lebanese army troops deploy in southern Lebanon to prevent more weapons from reaching Hezbollah, which has not disarmed despite the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which established a truce after 34 days of fierce fighting.

A bolstered UN peacekeeping force has begun its deployment, and Italian troops landed Saturday in southern Lebanon to join French, Indian and other UN troops already on the ground.

Murr told reporters he had been assured that "Israeli troops were going to withdraw from Lebanon as soon as possible, within two to three weeks."

Meanwhile, more Italian troops were deployed Sunday in Lebanon as part of the first major reinforcement in nearly 30 years of the UN mission monitoring a truce between Israel and the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

The troops, who began landing Saturday in the southern coastal city of Tyre, were due to unload heavy equipment at Beirut port while about 150 commandos were set to arrive at the capital's airport.

Lieutenant Federico Mariani, a spokesman for the Italian troops, told AFP that around half of the full contingent of 878 commandos had landed in Tyre by early Sunday.

He said the troops were going to a staging area on the outskirts of Tyre and were preparing to work with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil).

Italian vehicles were seen entering and leaving an existing Unifil base on a hilltop in Borj Qalawi, about 30 minutes from Tyre, as troops began setting up operations, an AFP correspondent said.