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Israeli soldiers clear their weapons after returning from southern Lebanon near the Israel-Lebanese border in northern Israel early morning Wednesday. (AP)
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| By Associated Press August 9, 2006 |
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Israel's Security Cabinet on Wednesday approved a wider ground offensive in south Lebanon that was expected to take 30 days as part of a new push to badly damage Hezbollah, said Israeli Cabinet minister Eli Yishai.
The decision was made with nine ministers in favor and three abstaining. The Security Cabinet authorized troops to push to the Litani River some 18 miles from the Israel-Lebanon border. Currently, some 10,000 soldiers are fighting Hezbollah in a four-mile-deep stretch from the Israel-Lebanon border.
During the meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Israeli officials said without revealing details of the conversation.
Yishai said the proposed operation was expected to take 30 days. However, an internationally backed cease-fire was expected to be imposed well before then.
"The assessment is it will last 30 days. I think it is wrong to make this assessment. I think it will take a lot longer," he said.
The decision gave authorization to Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Olmert to order the wider offensive and to decide its timing. However, it did not obligate them to act.
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