The new Israeli push in southern Lebanon is not planned to exceed the current area of military operations, the army has said this evening, playing down reports that an expanded sweep against Hizbullah was to get underway.
"This new operation falls within the geographical framework already established," said a spokesman, Captain Jacob Dallal.
He said tanks and troops have crossed into Lebanon in order to quell Hizbullah rocket fire from al-Khiam, a town that has already seen fighting.
Earlier today, Israel's security cabinet authorised an expansion of its offensive in southern Lebanon, increasing the pressure on major powers struggling to win agreement on a United Nations resolution to end the four-week-old war.
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| A Lebanese civil defence worker carries the body of Iham Rmeity, (5) after she was extracted today from the rubble of a building in Chiyah, a residential neighbourhood in Beirut. |
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's security cabinet authorised the move that was expected to send troops further, possibly to the Litani river, up to 20 km (13 miles) from the border, to strike at Hizbullah and halt its rocket attacks into Israel.
The news prompted a strong warning from Hizbullah that south Lebanon willl become "a graveyard for the invading Zionists."
A statement from Mr Olmert's office said the security cabinet had approved the plan presented by the Israeli defence establishment, but left it to Mr Olmert and Defence Minister Amir Peretz to decide the scope and timing of the operation.
An Israeli source has said the army believed it would take another 30 days to accomplish its mission against Hizbullah.
"The military presented its timetable, saying it needed at least 30 days, and this was endorsed by the cabinet," the source said.
Mr Peretz had proposed expanding the ground attack in Lebanon. Israeli media had said Olmert feared it might entail heavy casualties. Nine ministers approved the move. Three abstained.
Israel already has about 10,000 troops in southern Lebanon, and some reports say that there presence could now increase to 30,000.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Israel had a right to defend itself from Hizbullah but Washington is very concerned about the humanitarian situation.
"Israel must take the utmost care in avoiding civilian casualties," he said.
The decision comes as the news broke of further deaths in the Israeli military. 11 more troops were killed today as they thrust deeper into Lebanon. At least three Hizbullah fighters died in the clashes.
Israeli planes bombed targets across Lebanon. Five people died in a raid in the Bekaa Valley town of Mashghara, medics said. Two people, including an 11-year-old boy, were killed in air strikes on a Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon.
The Israeli move could complicate UN diplomacy to halt the fighting, though Western diplomats said Israeli officials had assured them the army was prepared to halt the wider campaign within days if an agreement was reached at the United Nations.
There has been mounting domestic pressure in Israel to strike harder against Hizbullah, which has proved unexpectedly resilient against the Middle East's most sophisticated army.
A Tel Aviv University poll showed 93 per cent of Israelis believe the campaign in Lebanon is justified, and 91 per cent backed the air strikes even if they destroyed Lebanese infrastructure and inflicted suffering on civilians.
Diplomats are still working on a UN resolution aimed at ending the war, but no Security Council vote seems imminent.
US Assistant Secretary of State David Welch held talks in Beirut as part of efforts to win agreement for such a resolution, but appeared to have made little headway.
"All he is carrying is cosmetics for what remains a very ugly resolution," Lebanon's Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a key Shi'ite politician and Hizbullah ally, said after talks with Mr Welch, who also met Prime Minister Fouad Siniora twice.
Lebanese leaders call the resolution unacceptable because it does not demand an Israeli withdrawal. Yesterday Russia said that any resolution "that is not favourable to the Lebanese side should not be adopted."
Meanwhile, The death toll from an air raid on a south Beirut suburb on Monday rose to 41 from 30, police said.
Sixty-one people were also wounded in the strike on the mainly Shi'ite Shiyah area.
At least 1,005 people in Lebanon and 111 Israelis have been killed in four weeks of bloodshed sparked when Hizbullah seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12th.