"Plans by defense minister Amir Peretz and the chief of staff for expanding the operation have been approved by the cabinet," Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai told public radio after a six-hour meeting.
Army chief of staff Dan Halutz and Peretz had favored widening the ground offensive although Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had voiced reservations, arguing such a move risked incurring even higher troop losses and complicating international diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting.
"The prime minister and the defense minister will have to decide of the appropriate moment for expanding the operation," Yishai added. "The plan has been approved and we must now pray God to allow the soldiers to return safely home," said the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, adding: "It was not an easy decision."
The move paves the way for Israeli troops to deploy deeper inside south Lebanon to combat Hezbollah, which has proved a formidable enemy for the Jewish state, inflicting heavy losses on the military and still able to fire off its rockets.
Israeli forces have only reached the Litani river in some areas where it runs close to the border but could now operate all along the river - which runs as far as 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border - and possibly beyond.
The hawkish members of the cabinet argued that Israel needed to score significant victories before international diplomacy imposes a ceasefire to end a war that has killed more than 1,000 people.
Plans to draw up a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cessation to hostilities have been complicated by Arab calls for a change to the draft and Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's proposal to deploy 15,000 troops in southern Lebanon.
Israeli army radio reported Wednesday that troops appeared to be actively preparing for a broader ground offensive.
On Tuesday, senior officers from Israel's northern command met with the unit commanders operating inside Lebanon and gave instructions for the next stage of the offensive.
Reserve units continued to move towards the Lebanese border area to beef up the 10,000 soldiers already operating on the ground.
Israel's military Tuesday dropped leaflets on south Lebanon, warning it would strike any vehicle traveling south of the Litani River, an area which includes the port of Tyre.
In another possible sign that Israel readied for a bigger offensive, deputy army chief Moshe Kaplinsky was given responsibility for the offensive.
Newspapers and analysts interpreted the appointment as a disavowal of northern command chief Udi Adam in the face of mixed results in battling Hezbollah despite the US-backed Israeli army's superior military might.
"Senior military sources said Adam has conducted the fighting with hesitation and excessive caution," the Ma'ariv newspaper reported.
Four weeks after the start of the offensive, Israeli commentators saw the cabinet decision as a turning point in the war.
"The large ground operation must be the final blow to the destruction of this vast rocket base," the top-selling Yedioth Aharonoth wrote, referring to the vast swathe of southern Lebanon controlled by Hezbollah.
OTHER: BEIRUT - The Israeli military Wednesday launched new strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs in the latest attack on the Hezbollah stronghold area. Thick plumes of grey smoke billowed into the sky after the attacks.
© 2006 Agence France-Presse
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