JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's security cabinet approved early Tuesday morning the expansion of the Israeli army's ground operation in southern Lebanon, a government official said.

"The cabinet gave the green light for expanding the ground operation in Lebanon," the official told AFP, without adding details.

The Haaretz website quoted a government source as saying that the army's goal would be to complete the destruction of Hezbollah militia positions along Lebanon's border with Israel before Thursday.

Olmert vowed on Monday that there would be no imminent ceasefire in Israel's 20-day long offensive in Lebanon, saying that the war would continue until the Shiite militant group ceased posing a threat to the Jewish state.

"The fighting is continuing," Olmert told a meeting of mayors in Tel Aviv. "There is no ceasefire and there will be no ceasefire in the coming days."

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