Rashaya, NU Online
Israeli troops backed by tanks and war planes have pushed deep into Lebanon in a broad offensive launched despite a unanimous UN Security Council call for an end to the month-old war.
"In line with Wednesday's decision by the security cabinet, the army has launched a ground operation in south Lebanon which is expected to extend up to the Litani river," an army spokesman said.
<>Israeli combat jets were also in action across other parts of Lebanon, pounding northern roads leading to Syria and destroying a power plant in the major southern city of Sidon.At least 15 people were killed or injured when fighter-bombers hit a village near the southern port city of Tyre, police said.
Israel plans to send in troops as far as the strategic Litani River, which runs as far as 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the border, in a bid to wipe out the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah guerrillas.
Troops in tanks and armoured vehicles were rolling towards hilltops overlooking the river where they were meeting fierce Hezbollah resistance, Lebanese police said.
Hezbollah also fired a salvo of 20 rockets at Israel, police said.
The Litani has served as a strategic limit for Israel's operations in Lebanon since it first invaded its northern neighbour in 1978.
The operation was launched only hours after the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah and the deployment of a 15,000-strong international force in Lebanon.
Resolution 1701, drafted by the United States and France, was passed by the 15-member council after days of bitter wranging at the United Nations over the text and frantic shuttle diplomacy.
It also calls for all Israeli troops to withdraw from southern Lebanon after an end to the fighting -- the timing for which has yet to be agreed by Lebanon and Israel.
The agreement calls for "a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations."
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan criticised the time it had taken for world powers to reach a resolution on ending a conflict that has claimed more than 1,200 lives, most of them Lebanese civilians, and triggered a humanitarian crisis.
"I would be remiss if I did not tell you how profoundly disappointed I am that the council did not reach this point much, much earlier," he said.
"All members of this council must be aware that this inability to act sooner has badly shaken the world's faith in its authority and integrity." (afp/dar)