MSNBC News Services JERUSALEM - Overriding U.S. opposition to an escalation of Mideast fighting, Israel’s Security Cabinet overwhelmingly decided Wednesday to send troops deeper into Lebanon in a major expansion of the ground war — an attempt to further damage Hezbollah and score quick battlefield victories before a cease-fire is imposed. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said that 15 Israeli soldiers were killed in a single day of fighting Wednesday, the highest one-day total in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. The military said 38 soldiers were wounded in battles across south Lebanon. Israel TV said some of the dead and wounded were reservists, and the others were from the standing army. Many of the details, including the names of the dead soldiers, were not immediately released.
