Israel has begun slowly pulling out forces from southern Lebanon and made plans to hand over territory today – on the first full day of a tense ceasefire that already has been tested by skirmishes.

Israel ordered its army to halt its offensive against Lebanese-based Hezbollah guerillas in as a United Nations-imposed ceasefire went into effect today.

THE Israeli military and Hezbollah were trying last night to inflict as much damage as possible ahead of an expected ceasefire this morning.

The UN ceasefire deal announced today will buy temporary calm, but make the next war between Israel and Tehran’s proxy army inevitable, former Israeli foreign minister Silvan Shalom and some military analysts warned.

Israeli helicopters airlifted hundreds of troops into the Hezbollah heartland and warplanes launched wide-ranging airstrikes today as officials raced to enforce a UN ceasefire and end fierce fighting still raging across southern Lebanon.

Israel widened its ground war in Lebanon on Saturday, almost tripling the number of troops there as it tried to seize more territory and inflict as much damage as possible on Hezbollah guerrillas before a UN ceasefire deal takes effect.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided today to launch an expanded ground offensive in southern Lebanon, after expressing dissatisfaction over an emerging ceasefire deal, government officials said.

The Israeli military will hold off a wider ground offensive in south Lebanon by three days to allow for the UN Security Council to continue its debate for a ceasefire resolution.

Israel’s security cabinet today decided to vastly expand its ground offensive and send troops deeper into Lebanon, in an attempt to deal more blows to Hezbollah and score quick battlefield victories before a Middle East ceasefire is imposed.

Israeli artillery pounded villages and hills throughout south Lebanon while a complete curfew was imposed on any civilians still trapped in the heart of the war zone.

Lebanon’s offer to deploy 15,000 troops along the border with Israel is “interesting” and worthy of further consideration, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said today.

Israeli commandos landed on a southern hilltop near Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast today, fighting Hezbollah in close combat in a bid to destroy its rocket launchers, as warplanes launched fresh airstrikes across the country, killing at least 28 people.

WHEN the fighting is over, both Israel and Hezbollah are likely to declare victory, but the truth will be far more complicated.

Israel continued its bombardment of Beirut early today, while Hezbollah fighters repelled Israeli paratroopers trying to land in the southern city of Tyre, according to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television.

Eight thousand Israeli troops pressed the first full day of a massive new ground attack in southern Lebanon today and said they seized five Hezbollah fighters in a dramatic raid on a north-eastern town.

In a major expansion of its ground offensive, Israel decided to send troops deeper into Lebanon, up to the Litani River some 18 miles from the Israeli border, to clear out Hezbollah fighters and hold the territory until a multi-national force is deployed there, senior officials said today.

The Israeli army will move deeper into southern Lebanon and hold on to that territory for several weeks, until a multinational force can deploy there, senior Israeli officials said today.

Israeli warplanes hit TV transmission towers today in Lebanon, knocking the nation’s leading private network off the air and cutting phone links to some regions.

The Israeli army today said it had called up more reserve troops to augment its current forces in northern Israel, widening speculation that a major ground offensive against Lebanon has moved beyond the planning stage.

Warplanes resumed strikes on targets across Lebanon today as Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people to flee the south “immediately”, preparing for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone in southern Lebanon.