Israel ramped up its offensive into southern Lebanon Saturday, staging wide-ranging air strikes and sending commandos into Hezbollah territory as the UN rushed to begin enforcing the ceasefire agreement reached Friday.
Israel appeared determined to inflict as much damage as possible on Hezbollah guerrillas before the ceasefire takes effect, and Israel's army chief, Lt. Gen. Dan Halut, said Israel has nearly tripled the number of troops it has in Lebanon and plans to fight for another week despite the cease-fire.
Halut pledged the roughly 30,000 Israeli troops currently in Lebanon will stay put until an international force arrives.
The increased Israeli offensive left 19 people dead on Saturday, including 15 civilians in the village of Rachaf.
Israeli warplanes also slammed a highway that serves as a conduit to Lebanon's last open border crossing with Syria -- used by humanitarian aid group and fleeing civilians -- as long lines of Israeli tanks, armoured carriers and troops streamed across the border into southern Lebanon.
Israeli ground troops also spread out across southern Lebanon, attempting to destroy Hezbollah launching sites used to fire rockets into northern Israel.
Three people were killed in strikes in Kharayeb, a Lebanese soldier died in an air raid near a military base in the Bekaa Valley, and Israeli bombs destroyed power plants in Sidon and near Tyre, according to The Associated Press.
Unknown casualties were suffered on both sides as Israeli ground forces pushed towards the Litani River, about 32 kilometres north of the border.
Hezbollah claimed its guerrillas inflicted casualties on Israeli forces in the village of Rachaf as well, some 14 kilometres from the border, and two people were wounded in a Hezbollah rocket attack on Haifa, in Israel.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a U.S.-French draft resolution for peace Friday night. It calls for 15,000 UN troops to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon.
The draft is the first significant council response to the crisis that began when Israel attacked Lebanon after Hezbollah guerrillas abducted two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12.
Hezbollah shot back, unleashing a barrage of rockets on northern Israel.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert backed the draft resolution, saying he will ask his government to accept the deal when it meets Sunday, according to The Associated Press. Lebanese officials said they could endorse the deal as early as Saturday.
While the U.S.-French draft resolution calls for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel would be permitted to continue defensive operations.
And while the draft states the need for the release of two Israeli soldiers, whose capture by Hezbollah guerrillas on July 12 sparked the conflict, it stops short of demanding their freedom, AP reports.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the Security Council was frustratingly slow in seeking an end to the conflict, and that its inaction has "badly shaken the world's faith in its authority and integrity."
Israel has said it will continue with the increased ground offensive if the Security Council resolution does not meet its basic requirements. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said the military is paying careful attention to the new resolution, but diplomacy has achieved little so far in the dispute.
The draft resolution
The new proposal appears to eliminate the prospect of a multinational force that would patrol a buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon, choosing instead to beef up the existing UN force in Lebanon, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL.
There are already about 2,000 UN troops and observers in Lebanon, so the draft would mean adding a further 13,000 UN troops to monitor the ceasefire.
They would support a Lebanese force, which would try to regain control of the area from Hezbollah guerrillas.
According to the draft, the UN force's mandate would also include ensuring humanitarian access in southern Lebanon.
U.S. officials told AP that a withdrawal plan would likely be carried out within 10 days of a cessation in hostilities.
The draft also calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah's militia. The UN called for the same in a 2004 resolution, but Hezbollah's guerrillas retained their weapons and continued to build up rocket supplies.
A second resolution is expected to follow within the new few weeks, which will outline terms for a lasting ceasefire.
With files from The Associated Press
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