German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out in Berlin on Sunday sending German troops as part of a possible UN peacekeeping force to Lebanon.

"I don't envisage this at the moment," she told ZDF TV, but adding there was a big difference between the present military conflict in Lebanon and the question of what would happen after a truce.

Merkel noted that a main reason for the current crisis was the international community's failure to sufficiently aid Beirut in disarming militant Hezbollah fighters as stipulated in UN Security Council Resolution 1559.

German politicians have been discussing calls by UN Secretary Kofi Annan to expand UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah from firing rockets at Israel.

More than 350 people have been killed in Lebanon in Israeli military operation, over 1,000 injured and at least 500,000 people evacuated since the fighting began on July 12.

In Israel, 36 people, including 17 civilians, have been killed in the conflict.