Pahad said at a media briefing in Pretoria that South African President Thabo Mbeki had received a letter from Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora who asked South Africa to intervene politically and help with humanitarian aid.

"Politically they want us to support them at the United Nations (UN), they want us to call for an immediate ceasefire and they want us to support their seven point plan, which we do anyway...we'll see what more we can do," he added.

Pahad noted that there was a need for the UN to act more decisively, as the situation in the region was deteriorating with more and more Arab communities threatening to take the matters into their own hands.

A draft resolution sponsored by the United States and France in the UN Security Council to help end the conflict failed when several parties were against the plan, saying it was one-sided.

The South African official said: "It is not the time to find compromises that would not help, it is the time to show leadership that would ensure international peace and stability."

He said people were noticing the "failure of the Security Council" to act and this was weakening the whole UN.

"A resolution must be able to satisfy the main protagonist, Israel, Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas and the states in the region, otherwise it is not a starter," Pahad said.

He said while the attention was on Lebanon, it was important not to forget about the situation in Gaza.