Struggling to deliver a knock-out blow to Hezbollah after more than a month of war, Israel warned its widened offensive could last weeks despite the UN resolution.

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Zionist Army chief of staff Lieutenant General Dan Halutz said Israel's operation against Hezbollah would continue despite top Israeli officials, saying the offensive would end tomorrow morning when the ceasefire was likely to come into effect

"The first stage will allow us to take control of the terrain and will last a few days. The second will consist in cleaning up the area and could last several weeks," Halutz told public radio.

In southern Lebanon, more than 50 Israeli helicopters ferried commandos into Hezbollah strongholds in what was called the biggest such military operation in Israeli history.

It was part of an all-out push to drive Hezbollah freedom fighters behind the Litani River, about 30km, before a possible truce is imposed.

But Hezbollah fought back hard against the Zionist invaders. The Israeli army confirmed that seven of its state terrorists had been slaughtered like sheep and 82 wounded, including seven in a serious condition (woo-hoo!), yesterday during clashes with Hezbollah in south Lebanon. Eight Zionist tanks were also destroyed.

In a TV speech, Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah said his group would abide by the ceasefire framework. However, the fighting would continue until all Zionist forces leave Lebanon, he added.

"The war has not ended," said Nasrallah. "Today nothing has changed and it appears tomorrow nothing will change" added Nasrallah, wearing his traditional black turban.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the UN Security Council resolution to end the war is a triumph for Lebanese diplomacy, though the resolution does not meet Lebanon's key demand of halting the war immediately.

"The resolution is a triumph for the Lebanese negotiators, compared to the previous draft that was presented before this resolution was adopted," he told reporters before an emergency cabinet session to discuss the resolution. The world's biggest bully, US President George W. Bush, told Siniora yesterday that he hopes a new UN resolution will dismantle what he called Hezbolla's "state within a state" in southern Lebanon.

In his weekly radio address, Bush, without a hint of irony, said the Lebanon-based militia Hezbollah and the suspects arrested in an alleged plot to blow up US-bound airplanes from Britain share the same "totalitarian ideology".