Israeli troops advance deep into south Lebanon

Israel sought to control a large swath of southern Lebanon on Sunday ahead of a key cabinet meeting expected to endorse a UN Security Council resolution.

Israel sought to control a large swath of southern Lebanon on Sunday ahead of a key cabinet meeting expected to endorse a UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to the month-old war.

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The Israeli general in charge of the northern command said he hoped the estimated 30,000 troops involved in the expanded offensive launched overnight will have secured control of most of south Lebanon by Monday.

"I think we will be in a much better situation (on Monday) than we are today," General Udi Adam said.

"Assuming that the ceasefire will take effect, we will stop the moment we are told. If it doesn't, we could continue."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Israeli television she hoped Israel would halt its expanded assault in "a day or so".

"I would hope that within no more than a day or so that there would be a cessation of the hostilities on the ground," she told Israel's Channel One.

The ground push came as the Lebanese government approved the UN resolution adopted unanimously on Saturday by the UN Security Council, while expressing reservations that it did not go far enough in condemning large-scale Israeli destruction in Lebanon and that it failed to address the Israeli-occupied Shebaa farms.

Finance Minister Jihad Azour said that the Lebanese cabinet would meet again on Sunday to discuss the implementation of the resolution.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah earlier said that though the text was unfair, his Shiite movement would not stand in the way of its implementation.