"The secretary-general is deeply concerned about a violation by the Israeli side of the cessation of hostilities as laid out in Security Council resolution 1701," a spokesman for Annan said in a statement posted on the UN Web site.

The statement said that according to UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, "there have also been several air violations by Israeli military aircraft."

"All such violations of Security Council resolution 1701 endanger the fragile calm that was reached after much negotiation and undermine the authority of the government of Lebanon," the statement said.

Annan called on all parties concerned to "respect strictly the arms embargo, exercise maximum restraint, avoid provocative actions and display responsibility in implementing resolution 1701," the statement said.

Annan also demanded daily reports about compliance with the truce be provided to the Security Council, the statement added.

The Israeli army confirmed that Israeli commandos launched a raid on a Hezbollah stronghold near the Bodai village in eastern Lebanon early Saturday to prevent weapons from being transferred to Hezbollah from Iran and Syria.

The army said the raid, which it termed as a "defensive" one, left one Israeli officer dead and two soldiers wounded. There is no immediate information about Hezbollah casualties in the raid.

It was the first time that Israel launched a formal military attack deep inside Lebanon since the UN-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect on Monday.

Israel denied it had violated the UN resolution, which allows it to act in self-defense, and in turn accused Lebanon of breaching the truce by smuggling weapons.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Saturday blamed Israel for violating the UN ceasefire resolution by launching the raid.

"The landing carried out Israeli occupation forces today in the Bekaa was a flagrant violation of the cessation of hostilities announced by the Security Council," Siniora said in a statement.

He said he had made a complaint to a UN delegation on Saturday, and would take up the matter with Annan.

Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr threatened on Saturday to halt army deployment in south Lebanon if the UN does not intervene after the Israeli raid.

According to reports by the pan-Arab al-Jazeera satellite channel, Murr accused Israel's airborne raid as a violation of the UN-brokered ceasefire.

Murr was quoted as saying that he would recommend the Lebanese cabinet to stop deploying troops in the south if the UN didn't react clearly on the issue.

Lebanese troops started to deploy in south Lebanon, a traditional stronghold of Hezbollah, from early Thursday following the ceasefire after the UN Security Council adopted the resolution 1701 demanding an immediate, full cessation of hostilities..

Murr also warned that the Israeli operation deep inside Lebanon could trigger revenge and the Jewish state might use the retaliation as an excuse to carry out more attacks on Lebanon.

Israel launched a massive assault against Hezbollah after the Lebanese Shiite group seized two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others during cross-border raids on July 12.

Over 1,000 Lebanese and 157 Israelis have been killed in the conflict.