Israel, on Sunday, backed the UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to fighting in Lebanon but intensified its offensive against the Hezbollah ahead of the proposed ceasefire.

Israeli warplanes pounded south Beirut with at least 20 missiles in a two-minute period at the same time the Knesset approved the UN ceasefire plan.

Observers said Sunday's attacks by Israel appeared to be aimed at consolidating its position in Lebanon before the truce became effective Monday morning.

The UN Security Council on Friday had adopted the resolution designed to end four weeks of fighting, which has killed more than 1,100 people on both sides, creating a 24-km buffer zone and authorising 15,000 peacekeepers to help the Lebanese army take control of the country's south.

Israeli missiles hit Dahiyeh suburb, a Hezbollah stronghold south of Beirut. Reports said the strikes destroyed a complex of eight residential buildings and at least six families were thought to be inside the building at the time of the attack.

This happened when the Israeli cabinet approved the UN ceasefire deal paving the way for an end to its 32-day long offensive against Lebanon.

It approved the deal by a 24-0 vote, with one abstention, a government official said.

The UN resolution had already been approved by the Lebanese government on Saturday and the Hezbollah had agreed to abide by its provisions.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who spoke at the meeting, said the resolution was 'good' for Israel - "Hezbollah won't continue to be a state-within-a-state inside Lebanon and the Lebanese government will become the point of contact for the Israeli government."

Speaking moments after the Israeli Cabinet endorsed the UNSC resolution, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Israel will withdraw from south Lebanon only when the Lebanese army and international force deploys.

Livni urged Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and the international community to implement a UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to the fighting and the mobilisation of Lebanese troops backed by UN peacekeepers into south Lebanon.

She called on the Lebanese army to move into south Lebanon 'immediately' and also said the ceasefire should 'lead to the disarming of Hezbollah'.

Earlier, Israeli warplanes fired missiles into several petrol stations in the southern port city of Tyre and killed at least 12 people.

Israeli forces mounted one of their strongest ground offensives in south Lebanon, sending nearly 30,000 troops to capture Hezbollah-held territories up to the Litani river before the ceasefire comes into force.

One man was killed near Nabatiyeh village north of the river.

Twenty-four Israeli soldiers died in the fighting and eleven were seriously injured on Saturday, making it the highest single-day casualty for the Jewish state since the offensive began on July 12.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he had urged leaders of the two countries that the fighting should end immediately to respect the "spirit and intent" of the Council decision.