Israel's Cabinet approved the U.N. cease-fire plan Sunday. The 24-0 vote, with one abstention, came a day after the Lebanese government approved the agreement. In the meeting, PM Ehud Olmert hailed the cease-fire deal, saying it will prevent a return to the status quo in which "Hizbullah ran a state-within-a-state in south Lebanon," participants said. "It's a good decision," Olmert said of the UN resolution.
Meanwhile, at least 20 huge blasts rattled Beirut over a two minute period Sunday afternoon, in what appeared to be shelling of south Beirut by Israeli warships anchored off the Lebanese coast. Television reports said the shells fell in the Dahiyeh suburb.
Earlier, the Dubai-based television Al-Arabiya news channel on Sunday reported seven Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes with Hizbullah in south Lebanon. A total of 13 Lebanese civilians, including a mother and three children, were killed as Israel pounded targets across Lebanon.
