Israel's security cabinet voted yesterday to dramatically expand the military's ground offensive in south Lebanon, with the army planning to drive toward the Litani River and beyond - some 30km inside Lebanon.
The move aims to halt the firing of short-range rockets by Hizbullah at northern Israel and to try to regain the initiative in the war of attrition.
The decision, which won overwhelming support, authorises prime minister Ehud Olmert and defence minister Amir Peretz to determine the extent to which the ground operation will be expanded as well as its timing.
In a televised speech yesterday evening, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned that if Israeli troops "come in, we'll force you out, we will turn our precious southern land into a graveyard for the occupying Zionists".
The Israeli decision sharply increased pressure on the UN to cobble together a ceasefire resolution. The US and France clashed openly yesterday over the proposed ceasefire plan which is opposed by Lebanon and other Arab states.
US and French teams at the UN headquarters in New York returned to the drawing board to devise a fresh draft resolution, but the mood among diplomats was pessimistic. One diplomat described the situation in Lebanon as "intractable" and warned there was no plan B if a resolution could not be thrashed out fast.