Berlin: The cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel approved plans on Wednesday to send naval and air force troops to Lebanon, underscoring Germany's increasingly prominentrole in foreign peace-keeping missions.
The German contingent, which officials said would include up to 2,400personnel, will help enforce a truce between Israel and Hezbollah after a month-long war that killed nearly 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 157 Israelis, mainly soldiers.
The question of dispatching German troops to the Middle East some 60 years after the Nazis wiped out 6 million Jews has divided a country which only recently shed its post-war reluctance to participate in foreign combat missions.
"I am always careful about using grand words, but I think we can say that this mission is not like any other," Merkel told a news conference. "Sending troops to the Middle East is for us a historic decision."
"This decision was made in view both of our particular responsibility for Israel's right to exist, and for a solid solution for peace in the region," Merkel said.
Partly because of concerns that German soldiers might be drawn into fighting with Israeli forces, the government has declined to send ground troops.
Instead, the German deployment will focus on patrolling the Lebanese coast to prevent weapons from reaching Hizbollah.
At 2,400, the German contribution would be the second largest for the so-called UNIFIL II force after Italy, which is sending 3,000 troops. France has pledged a total of 2,000.
The Middle East mission must now be approved by the Bundestag lower house of parliament in a vote which is likely to take place at the end of next week.
The governing coalition of conservatives and Social Democrats (SPD) enjoys an overwhelming majority in the Bundestag and approval is not in doubt.
