AFP - Israel has asked Italy to try to remain at the head of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) rather than handing over to Spain as planned, a senior official said.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week called (Italian) Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and asked him to try to keep the current commander of UNIFIL Claudio Graziano in his post," the official said.

Graziano's term is due to end in a few weeks, with Spain slated to take over.

The Haaretz newspaper said Netanyahu's move turned into a serious diplomatic incident, with Spain likely to take up the issue during talks with visiting Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak this week.

While the military wanted Netanyahu to press Italy to keep Graziano in his post for at least another six months, the foreign ministry feels Israel should not have become involved to avoid insulting any of the major European countries participating in UNIFIL -- France, Italy and Spain, the daily said.

"We have no preference regarding UNIFIL command. We will cooperate with any commander," a foreign ministry spokesman said.

UNIFIL has some 13,000 troops from various countries stationed in southern Lebanon.

The force, which was set up in 1978 to monitor the border between Israel and southern Lebanon, was considerably beefed up in the wake of the 2006 war between the militant group Hezbollah and Israel.