Crawford, Texas ? President Bush said Monday that any Mideast cease-fire must prevent Hezbollah from strengthening its grip in southern Lebanon, asserting “it’s time to address root causes of problems.”

Bush urged the United Nations to work quickly to approve a resolution to stop hostilities that have been raging between Israel and Hezbollah for more than three weeks and killing hundreds.

A draft resolution proposed by the United States and France faced opposition from Lebanon and other Arab nations because it would not call for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon.

Bush indicated he wants Israel to stay until an international force is deployed that can assist Lebanon in taking over control of the southern part of the country, where Hezbollah’s operations are based.

“Whatever happens in the U.N., we must not create a vacuum into which Hezbollah and its sponsors are able to move more weapons,” Bush said in a joint news conference with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. “Sometimes the world likes to take the easy route in order to solve a problem. Our view is, it’s time to address root causes of problems. And to create a vacuum is unacceptable.”

Bush indicated that the U.N. force would help enforce an arms embargo that would block any entity in Lebanon except the national government from obtaining weapons from abroad. That’s aimed at blocking the sale or supply of arms to Hezbollah from Iran and Syria, which are believed to be the militia’s main backers.

Explaining why the United States would not contribute ground troops to an international force, Bush compared it to the situation in Sudan’s Darfur region. U.S. troops “would create a sensation around the world that may not enable us to achieve our objective,” Bush said. He said U.S. troops would provide support to a U.N. ground force in Lebanon.

While Americans tend to sympathize with Israel, they are evenly split on whether Israel is justified in bombing Hezbollah targets where civilians may be killed or wounded. More than half, 54 percent, say Israel could do more to avoid civilian casualties in Lebanon, an ABC News-Washington Post poll found.