Israel announces major expansion of ground offensive

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.

Israel hopes to complete the new push in up to two weeks, Israeli Cabinet ministers said.

The decision was made late yesterday by Israel’s Security Cabinet. It followed a lull in fighting, imposed by the world’s outrage over the killing of 56 Lebanese, most of them children, in an Israeli airstrike over the weekend in the town of Qana.

Following that deadly attack, Israel suspended most airstrikes for 48 hours and Hezbollah drastically cut back rocket attacks yesterday, after firing an average of more than 100 rockets a day in three weeks of fighting.

But by early today, Israel had resumed air raids. Warplanes targeted a Hezbollah stronghold deep inside Lebanon and Hezbollah fighters battling with soldiers near the Israel-Lebanon border.

Diplomatic efforts to end the crisis faltered, despite increased world pressure for a ceasefire after the devastating strike in Qana. Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert said the offensive would continue until Hezbollah has been neutralised. “We will not give up on our goal to live a life free of terror,” Olmert said.

US President George Bush also resisted calls for an immediate halt to fighting, saying any peace deal must ensure that Hezbollah is crippled. He said Iran and Syria must stop backing the Shiite militant group with money and weapons.

“As we work with friends and allies, it’s important to remember this crisis began with Hezbollah’s unprovoked attacks against Israel. Israel is exercising its right to defend itself,” Bush said.

Israel’s Cabinet decision paved the way for a significantly broader ground offensive.

Up to now, several thousand soldiers had been engaged, fighting house-to-house battles with hundreds of Hezbollah fighters in Lebanese towns and villages close to the border. Last week, the Cabinet called up some 30,000 reserve soldiers, many of whom reported to their bases earlier this week to begin training.

Defence officials said they expected thousands more soldiers to be sent to Lebanon as part of the expanded offensive.

Senior Israeli officials and media reports said today that troops were given permission to move as far as Lebanon’s Litani River, which meanders through south Lebanon, and at some points is as far as 18 miles from the Israeli-Lebanese border.

In a first stage, tanks and ground forces would move up to four miles into Lebanon, the officials said.

Political commentator Emmanuel Rosen outlined the Security Cabinet’s decision on Army Radio, saying troops would in some cases even go beyond the Litani. Minister for Justice Haim Ramon, speaking on the same programme, said Rosen apparently “knows what he is talking about”, but declined to refer directly to the Cabinet decisions.

Ramon, a member of the Security Cabinet, said he hoped the push would be completed in a week to 10 days, to create the conditions for a multi-national force to deploy there. Another Cabinet minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, said he expected the offensive to take up to two weeks.

Another participant in the meeting said airstrikes would resume “in full force” after the 48-hour lull.

Thousands of Lebanese took advantage of the lull in airstrikes to make a dash for safety farther north after weeks trapped in homes in the war zone, afraid to move because of intense missile strikes on roads