Nearly 2,500 Italian peacekeepers are to arrive in southern Lebanon within the next few days, United Nations diplomats said.
France will head the 15,000-trong multinational peacekeeping force until February, when Italy will take over.
Countries have been slow to offer contributions to the force, which will be tasked with overseeing a fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hizbullah and maintain quiet in southern Lebanon.
France has pledged to add 1,600 troops to 400 soldiers already deployed in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is on a visit to the Middle East in a bid to uphold the truce, which came into effect two weeks ago.
Annan traveled to Lebanon on Monday, where he assessed the damage wrought by Israeli attacks during the fighting and met with top officials.
Annan was jeered by Hizbullah supporters upon visiting a neighborhood in south Beirut on Monday. The mostly Shi’ite area was severely damaged in Israeli air raids.
He is traveling to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Tuesday and will later continue on to Syria and Iran, which both have links to Hizbullah.
Annan is urging Israel to lift its blockade of Lebanese ports and airports. He is also calling on Hizbullah to release two Israeli soldiers kidnapped on July 12.