Israel's security cabinet voted yesterday to expand dramatically the military's ground offensive in south Lebanon, with the army planning to drive toward the Litani river and beyond - approximately 30km (20 miles) inside Lebanon.
The move aims to halt the firing of short-range rockets by Hizbullah at northern Israel and to try and regain the initiative after being dragged into a war of attrition by the Shia organisation.
The decision, which won overwhelming support with nine ministers voting in favour and three abstaining, authorises Israeli 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.
Government officials said that an expanded ground operation did not mean Israel was abandoning diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire. "Israel is still working for a diplomatic solution, preferably in the [ UN] security council," said tourism minister Isaac Herzog. "We cannot wait forever. We have a million civilians living in bomb shelters, and we have to protect them."
Israeli leaders have been reticent to expand the ground operation, fearing it could result in heavy losses among soldiers.
According to reports, 12 Israeli soldiers were killed yesterday - the worst losses the military has incurred in a single day since fighting erupted on July 12th - as battles raged between troops and Hizbullah fighters in villages a few kilometres inside Lebanon.
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 those countries trying to cobble together a UN ceasefire resolution.
But hopes of forging agreement on a resolution dimmed yesterday as differences between the resolution's co-sponsors, the United States and France, deepened. While the French are supporting Lebanon's demand that Israeli troops withdraw from south Lebanon as soon as a ceasefire is declared, the US is backing Israel's demand that it remain in the area until an international force and the Lebanese army is deployed.
During the six-hour cabinet meeting, Mr Olmert left the room to speak to US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice for half an hour. On his return, the prime minister said the expanded Israeli offensive would be accompanied by diplomatic efforts based on the US-French initiative, a minister said.
In the wake of the Israeli decision, the US called on Israel "to take the utmost care to avoid any loss of innocent life".
"These are very difficult situations, and we would also urge the Israeli government to do everything that they possibly can on the humanitarian front," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
While Israel massed troops on its northern border yesterday, the expanded ground offensive might not start immediately, with Mr Olmert possibly waiting two or three days to see if diplomatic efforts aimed at forging a truce prove fruitful, some officials suggested.
According to the army's plan, Israeli forces will push to the Litani river, and beyond at some points, with the aim of forcing the Katyusha rockets out of the range of towns and cities in northern Israel which have been struck by over 3,000 rockets in the last month. Officials estimated it would take a week for troops to reach the Litani, with the army then spending a few weeks trying to clear the area of Hizbullah fighters and of rockets.
A Channel 10 poll found 64 per cent of Israelis back an expanded ground offensive.