Five Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed in south Lebanon on Sunday, as troops and Hezbollah guerillas engaged in heavy fighting.

The IDF continued to expand its ground operation in Lebanon on Sunday, as tanks pushed pass the Saluki river on Sunday, reaching the Kanatra region in the central section of southern Lebanon, where the army had suffered most of its casualties on Saturday.

Twenty-four IDF soldiers were killed and another 11 seriously wounded during fighting in south Lebanon on Saturday, the heaviest one-day Israeli casualty toll of the war.

Twelve soldiers were lightly wounded by anti-tank fire in fighting on Sunday. The casualties followed a dramatic expansion of IDF ground operations over the weekend.

The IDF said Sunday that its forces were continuing to advance on all fronts. Senior officers maintained Saturday that cabinet permission for the expanded operation had come after a sizable delay, thus eliminating the chance for significant gains in the current drive.

On Sunday morning, Hezbollah fired a number of heavy rocket barrages into northern Israel, killing one person and wounding at least nine.

Hours later, Israeli warplanes launched a strike on Beirut's mainly Hezbollah-controlled southern suburb on Sunday.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Israeli and Lebanese leaders had agreed to a ceasefire from Monday and the United Nations was preparing to deploy up to 15,000 troops to help enforce the truce.

IDF casualties in fighting on Saturday included five air crewmen killed when their an Israel Air Force helicopter was shot down by Hezbollah fire late Saturday, the IDF said. Hezbollah said the helicopter was struck by an anti-tank missile.

The names of all of the IDF fatalities have been released.

The son of David Grossman, a renowned novelist and peace activist in Israel, was killed in Lebanon, the army said Sunday night, just three days after the author publicly urged the government to end the war with Hezbollah guerrillas.

Staff Sergeant Uri Grossman, 20, was killed by an anti-tank missile during a major ground offensive in which 24 soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon.

His father's appeal to the government on Thursday came a day after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Security Cabinet approved the plan for the new offensive.

Corporal Ya`ar Ben Giat, 19, of Kibbutz Nahsholim was buried at 6.30 P.M. Sunday at the kibbutz' cemetery; Staff Sergeant Tzachi Krips, 20, of Kibbutz Hama'apil was buried at 6.30 P.M. Sunday at the kibbutz' cemetery.

Staff Sergeant Yossi Abutbul, 20, of Gan-Ner was laid to rest at 5 P.M. Sunday in the Afula military cemetery. Aharon Yechezkel, 32, of Kfar Yedidya, was also laid to rest at 5 P.M. on Sunday.

Sergeant Yaniv Tamerson, 21, from Zippori is also set to be buried on Sunday.

Corporal Tamer (Tomer) Amar, 19, from Julis, was buried at 2.30 P.M. on Sunday.

Under cover of intense artillery fire, IDF forces reached the Litani River, which is some 20 to 30 kilometers inside Lebanon, military officials said Saturday evening.

As part of the expanded operation, IAF helicopters dropped a large number of Israeli troops deep inside Lebanese territory on Saturday, in the largest operation of its kind since 1973.

IDF sources said more than 80 Hezbollah fighters had been killed in the clashes over the weekend, at least 40 of them on Saturday.

Israel has nearly tripled the number of forces in Lebanon as part of its expanded ground war, and expects to fight for another week, despite a United Nations cease-fire resolution, IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said Saturday.

Halutz said IDF troops would stay in Lebanon until an international force arrives. "We have almost tripled our forces that are operating in Lebanon," Halutz told reporters.

A top IDF official has said that the army will stop its offensive as soon as it is ordered to do so by the political leadership and later it will begin to retrace its steps to uncover any pockets of resistance that may remain in the area.

UN Middle East envoy Alvaro de Soto told Reuters on Saturday the UN force could begin deploying in seven to 10 days, suggesting there is still some time before the "immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations," as called for in the resolution.

An IDF spokeswoman said an IDF officer and two soldiers were killed Saturday when Hezbollah fighters fired an anti-tank missile at their tank.

She said another soldier died when Hezbollah launched a similar attack on a structure in the area where he and other troops had taken position.

Two soldiers from the Golani Brigade were killed in an accident that occured when an IDF tank accidentally ran them over in the village of Shakif-al-Amal in the East. Two other soldiers were wounded in the accident, one seriously and the other lightly.

In the eastern section, one soldier was killed when an anti-tank missile hit his tank close to the village of Kanatra. Another soldier was killed when troops exchanged fire near the village of Hadata on the eastern section.

Three other soldiers were seriously wounded in separate attacks on tanks and an armored vehicle near the villages of Tyre and Dir Sirin.

With the expansion of the ground offensive in Lebanon, four divisions were operating in south Lebanon and most of the activity was focused in areas from where Hezbollah has been firing short-range rockets into Israel. Sources in the IDF General Staff said four to seven days would be needed to complete the occupation of the area