THE HAGUE, 22/07/06 - The Netherlands will not call on Israel for an unconditional cease-fire. The fundamentalist Hezbollah movement in Lebanon will at least first have to release the two kidnapped Israeli soldiers, said Foreign Minister Ben Bot in the Lower House Friday.

The House was holding an unscheduled debate on the explosive Middle East situation. Labour (PvdA), the leftwing Greens (GroenLinks), socialists (SP) and centre-left D66 unsuccessfully called on Bot to completely back UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan, who on Thursday condemned the immoderate use of force by Israel and called for a cease-fire and the stationing of an international peace-keeping force in the south of Lebanon.

According to PvdA spokesman Bert Koenders, Bot is bogged down in a diplomatic tug-of-war that looks like "playing for time." With GroenLinks and SP, the PvdA urged a condemnation of the "disproportionate force", as Koenders put it, used by Israel in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. But a House majority supported Bot.

Bot is opting for "a realistic approach" aimed at achieving a cease-fire, without Hezbollah or Hamas abusing this to re-arm themselves. According to Bot, the cooperation of the US is necessary for this, but Syria and Iran must also be put under more pressure. Bot's support included the conservative (VVD) and Christian democratic (CDA) coalition partners plus Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) and the small orthodox Christian parties SGP and ChristenUnie.

Bot said the cabinet is seriously concerned about the great crisis that has arisen and that there is "the risk of it spreading through the region." But he criticised "the big words" of Koenders and GroenLinks spokeswoman Karimi. Bot suggested that the leftwing parties simply want to raise their profile. "Performing an act on the stage will get us nowhere," according to the CDA minister.

Bot also said the Netherlands has made one million euros available for humanitarian aid via the UN and one million for the Red Cross in Lebanon.