The plan was to follow up the offensive by several weeks of mopping-up operations in the surrounded territories, eliminating Hizbullah infrastructure, especially in the launching areas of Katyusha rockets.

When the ceasefire commenced the following day IDF found itself in control of 16 different pockets or sectors in South Lebanon, often isolated from each other and from Israeli territory.

Hizbullah remained in control of both Bint Jbeil and Ayta ash-Sha'b, close to the border, while IDF soldiers were operating well to the north of both these towns.

Guy Tzur’s 162nd Armored Division would cross the Sulouqi/Hujeir river from the east along the Litani and sweep west and link up with the other IDF forces at Juwwiya.

The Israeli government was initially determined to continue the fighting in spite of the Security Council resolution's call for a cease-fire by 8 AM August 14.

Israeli Government officials claimed that IDF operations would not stop "until the army's goals were reached, despite the passage of UN Security Council resolution 1701.

On the night of August 8, units belonging to the reserve brigade of the 366th Division (Pillar of Fire Formation), under the command of Brigadier General Erez Zuckerman, advanced northward and reached the Christian town of Marj'ayoun, 9 kilometers from the border.

Israeli media reported that IDF forces began August 8, operating "in al-Khiam", from where a large number of rockets were being fired at northern Galilee.

One of several ambitious targets set by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in his speech in the Knesset on July 17, 2006 was the deployment of the Lebanese army in "all of Southern Lebanon".

IDF forces occupied the Christian village of Dibil, situated to the north of Ayta ash-Sha’b (which was surrounded but still unoccupied) in the central sector.

[33] An engineering unit hid in a building in the outskirts of the village but was spotted by Hizbullah scouts and was hit by two missiles fired from Ayta ash-Sha’b.

[36] Brigadier General Gal Hirsch’s Division 91 was ordered to move west from its positions north of Bint Jbeil towards the Mediterranean coast.

[36] Friday evening the paratroop brigade under the command of Col. Hagai Mordechai was airlifted to the Bmaryamin plain outside the villages of Yatar and Kafra.

[40] According to Harel and Issacharoff the immediate target was the occupation of "village of Jabel-Amal"[41] (probably a mistranslation referring to the town of Yatar in the district of Jabal 'Amil).

"[40] When the first Yas’ur (CH-53 Sea Stallion) helicopter took off, after unloading its soldiers, it was hit by a missile and burst into flames and the crew of five was killed instantly.

Five Israeli crew members were killed, including two senior officers and Sgt.-Maj. Keren Tendler, the only female IDF soldier to die in the war.

Paratroop commander Col. Hagai Mordechai was ordered not to proceed to the target but to abort the mission and hide at the landing zone until next nightfall.

Mordechai told an Israeli reporter: "I didn’t think that at this age I’d find myself hiding in the bushes,"[41] The paratroopers were never given the opportunity to carry out their assignments.

From the first days of the war, Israel bombed the small Christian village of al-Ghandouriya, situated near the wadi crossing, forcing the inhabitants to evacuate their homes.

[47] General Tzur had twice sent the brigade’s engineering battalion to secure a foothold on the western bank of the wadi near the village of al-Ghandouriya, in preparation for the rapid sweep westwards towards the city of Tyre.

[47] The battle was initiated by a large helicopter lift of infantry from the Nahal Brigade in the vicinity of the villages of al-Ghandouriya and Furoun to the west of the wadi.

A column of 24 Merkava tanks from the 401st Brigade advanced westward from the area of Tayyiba and when it entered the wadi, it was attacked from all sides, including from the rear near Odaisseh that had been thought to have been under IDF control for several days.

[50] Hizbullah fighters used ATGMs, small-arms fire, and mortars to suppress the Nahal Brigade, preventing them from providing effective infantry support for the armor forces.

[51] Timur Göksel, the former chief spokesperson for UNIFIL later commented that "anyone dumb enough to push a tank column through Wadi Saluki should not be an armored brigade commander but a cook.

[9] This estimate seemed to have been based on battle damage assessments from the large number of cluster munitions the IDF used in the final days of the war.

According to the official Hizbullah version of events, Salih fought singlehandedly at Wadi al-Hujeir, running between pre-positioned Kornet missile sites and firing at the Israeli tanks before finally being hit.

"[56] After the heavy casualties in battles of Sulouqi/al-Hujeir and Bmaryamin plain landings Operation Change of Direction 11 "faded away on its own", the illusions of the Israeli leadership "imploded" and its only concern was how to end the war as quickly as possible.

[62] At the time of the cease-fire more than 20 damaged Israeli tanks and armored vehicles were left stranded inside Lebanese territory and the IDF was working hard to bring them back to Israel.

[65] According to Haaretz an anonymous "highly placed" American official, Operation Changing Direction 11 significantly affected the text of the UNSCR 1701 in favor of Israel.

"[70] Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, however, stated that if Hizbullah did not disarm, Israel would continue with what he termed "a long, hard, arduous, complex fight.