MARWANEEN, Lebanon - Lebanon stepped up its protests Thursday over Israel's delayed pullout from the war-battered south of the country, where Israeli and UN tanks were briefly locked in a face-off.

Lebanon is considering filing a formal complaint with the UN Security Council, an official said, although the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was still hopeful the pullout would be completed by Sunday.

Israel "is altering the border fence, stealing our water in Wazzani and our earth near Khiam. They are violating our airspace," a senior military official in Beirut charged.

"The Lebanese government is looking into filing a complaint with the Security Council over Israel's violations of and failure to comply with terms of Resolution 1701," he told AFP on condition of anonymity.

UN Security Council Resolution 1701 put an end to month-long deadly hostilities between Israel and guerrillas of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah on August 14.

It called for Israel's pullout from Lebanon and the disarming of all militias.

UN and Israeli tanks were involved in a brief face-off Thursday on a road in southern Lebanon where the Israeli army has been setting up checkpoints, AFP correspondents said.

Four French Leclerc tanks with the UN peacekeepers moved up the hill to stand 500 meters (yards) from the entrance to the border village of Marwaheen, as two Israeli Merkava tanks operated nearby on Lebanese soil.

Standing some 50 metres (yards) apart, the tanks were locked in a 20-minute face-off, the first between the Israeli army and UNIFIL, which has been boosted to oversee the current truce.

The French tanks then withdrew, as observers of the UN Truce Supervision Organisation came to the scene.

Israeli soldiers confiscated the identity cards of photographers during the incident, claiming they hand over pictures of the Israeli military to militants of Hezbollah.

Israeli forces, whose country fought a July-August war with Hezbollah, have set up flying checkpoints in the area in the past two days, prompting the Lebanese government to file more complaints to UNIFIL.

"Experience tells us the Israelis never do anything without being forced to do it," the official in Beirut said. "It will probably need Security Council action ... If the situation persists, there will be a lot more problems later."

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has called on Israel to pull its troops out without further delay or risk jeopardising the ceasefire.

But his Israeli counterpart, Ehud Olmert, said Thursday he does not expect a resumption of major fighting with Hezbollah "in the short term".

A spokesman for UNIFIL, meanwhile, said the United Nations continued to hope for a withdrawal by Sunday. "We are expecting the Israelis to withdraw at the end of the month," said Alexander Ivanko.

The Israeli army still occupies about 10 positions on the Lebanese side of the border, after having suspended its pullout, according to UNIFIL.

Disputes over how the Lebanese army and international peacekeepers will deal with Hezbollah fighters is holding up the troop withdrawal, Israel's military chief of staff said Wednesday.

Hezbollah has agreed to abide by the ceasefire but refuses to lay down arms until it is satisfied that Israel has ended its occupation of Lebanese land.

For the past two days, Israeli forces have been erecting checkpoints in Marwaheen village in southern Lebanon to search vehicles and examine identity papers, residents said.

"This is not acceptable, these are part of provocations and pressures by the Israelis to negotiate security measures and rules of engagement," said the Lebanese military official.

"They (Israelis) are looking for justifications, they probably want to negotiate security arrangements or the issue of the prisoners' exchange," he said, referring to Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers on July 12.

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