Israel will hold back a new ground offensive in Lebanon until the weekend to give cease-fire efforts another chance, senior government officials said yesterday, a day after Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a major expansion of the month-long war.

But prospects for a quick cease-fire resolution by the UN Security Council were uncertain, with the United States and France still divided over a timetable for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.

France wants Israel to pull out once hostilities end, while the United States backs Israel’s insistence on staying in southern Lebanon until a strong international force is deployed, which could take weeks or months.

In fightings yesterday, Hezbollah claimed it destroyed 13 Israel tanks in south Lebanon. The Israeli military declined comment. On Wednesday, 15 Israeli soldiers were killed in Lebanon, the deadliest day for Israeli soldiers in the war.The deeper push into Lebanon was approved by Israel’s Security Cabinet. During the tense six-hour meeting, ministers received constant updates on the rising Israeli military casualties in Lebanon.

A senior government official said yesterday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has decided to hold off on the offensive until the weekend. The campaign could begin earlier if Hezbollah launches a major attack on Israel, the official said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the issue with reporters.The government’s running of the war was coming under growing criticism at home.

The army has failed to make a dent in Hezbollah’s ability to fire rockets at Israel – the guerrillas fired 170 on Wednesday, for a war total of more than 3,500 – and critics said pushing deeper into Lebanon would not stop such attacks since longer-range rockets can still reach Israel.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported an angry exchange between Defense Minister Amir Peretz and his predecessor, Shaul Mofaz, in the Security Cabinet meeting. When Mofaz criticized the planned new offensive, Peretz reportedly shot back: “Where were you when Hezbollah built up this array (of weapons)?”

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called during the meeting, officials said, and Olmert told ministers after his half-hour conversation with Rice that the offensive would be accompanied by a new diplomatic push.

Yesterday, troops backed by tanks and armored vehicles took up positions on the outskirts of the Christian town of Marjayoun in south Lebanon, about six miles from the border. Troops met no resistance. Soldiers also moved to a nearby hill overlooking the Litani River Valley, witnesses said. Heavy battles were reported in south Lebanese villages across from Israel’s Galilee panhandle, hard hit by rockets. So far, the fighting has killed 711 people on the Lebanese side and 118 Israelis, including 36 civilians and 82 soldiers.

The economic price was also going up. Finance Minister Avraham Hirchson said the war has cost Israel some $1.6 billion so far. He said he will ask the government to cut $650 million from the 2006 state budget to help pay for the war. Israel’s total budget for 2006 is $56 billion.

The prospect of a wider war would put tremendous pressure on the United Nations to rapidly agree on a cease-fire. The fighting has caused widespread destruction across southern Lebanon and forced hundreds of thousands of Israelis to flee or take refuge in bomb shelters.

However, France and the US remained divided over a proposed truce resolution, particularly at whether Israeli troops would be able to stay in south Lebanon until they can hand over to a multinational force. French President Jacques Chirac appealed for rapid agreement. “The most immoral of solutions would be to accept the current situation and give up on an immediate cease-fire,” he said.