Israeli cabinet backs UNSC resolution

The Israeli cabinet has endorsed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a end to hostilities in southern Lebanon. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is due to come into force tomorrow morning.

Yesterday, the Lebanese government agreed unanimously to the UNSC resolution.

However, the Israeli government has said its troops will only leave southern Lebanon when an international peacekeeping force is in place. The UN has said this could take up to 10 days.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has also said his group will abide by the ceasefire plan.

He warned, however, that Hezbollah would continue fighting as long as Israeli soldiers remained in Lebanon.

Earlier, the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, announced the timing after discussions with the prime ministers of Israel and Lebanon.

In a statement, Mr Annan said he was happy to announce that 'the cessation of hostilities and the end of the fighting' would come into force on 14 August.

Further air strikes on Lebanon

At least 25 people have been killed in continuing Israeli air strikes in Beirut and across southern Lebanon.

In the capital, 10 people were killed and 20 injured after Israeli air strikes hit eight buildings and a mosque in the city's southern suburbs. 

Three Lebanese civilians died and 13 were wounded in an Israeli air raid on the village of Ali al-Nahri in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

In the southern city of Tyre, five people, including a mother and her three children, were killed when their house was struck, and two people lost their lives and four were wounded when a truck was hit in the eastern Bekaa valley.

Two civilians were killed in bombardments on the village of Jebshit, in southern Lebanon.

Meanwhile, two Lebanese soldiers died after an air strike in the Bekaa valley and another was killed in Tyre.

Israeli artillery has continued to bombard Hezbollah-held areas in southern Lebanon, particularly the town of Khiam.

Yesterday, 19 Israeli soldiers were killed after a helicopter was shot down by Hezbollah militants. Five remain missing.

The soldiers were killed during Israel's largest airborne operation for more than 30 years.

Almost 30,000 Israeli troops are reported to be operating across southern Lebanon.