TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli soldiers pressed toward Hezbollah border outposts yesterday, with Prime Minister Olmert reversing course to declare an extension of the ground war after meetings with Secretary of State Rice on a putative cease-fire. Mr. Olmert said Israel would reject a cease-fire for now and that he still sought victory in a war that even Israel’s staunchest allies do not think it can win.

Only hours after the start of a 48-hour cessation of aerial activity in southern Lebanon, the Jewish state fired on a vehicle near the Lebanon-Syria border in which it believed a Hezbollah leader was riding. The rocket missed, but the message was clear: Israel is reserving the right to continue the air war in Lebanon, with only a few limitations.

Late last night, France’s foreign minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, held a parley with Iran’s foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, at the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. Mr. Mottaki, whose government is the primary sponsor of Hezbollah, had consulted with the Syrian government in Damascus earlier yesterday. He also met with the Lebanese foreign minister, Fawzi Salloukh.

Mr. Douste-Blazy’s meeting with Mr. Mottaki, and his pro-Iranian remarks, are likely to raise eyebrows in the White House, which has consistently held Iran responsible for the current war and is counting on the French to contribute and possibly lead a multinational force for Lebanon.

Mr. Douste-Blazy told reporters yesterday,”In the region, there is of course a country such as Iran — a great country, a great people, and a great civilization, which is respected and which plays a stabilizing role in the region.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Olmert told a group of mayors in Tel Aviv yesterday that there would be no letup in the war against Hezbollah. “The fighting continues. There is no cease-fire and there will not be any cease-fire in the coming days,” he said. Earlier in the day, Mr. Olmert’s defense minister, Amir Peretz, promised to expand operations against Hezbollah.

That appeared to be a rebuke to Ms. Rice, who spent nearly two days in Jerusalem meeting with Mr. Olmert and top officials to iron out the terms for a cease-fire and the composition of an international force to separate Hezbollah and the Israel Defense Force. The State Department, not the Israelis, let it be known on Sunday evening that Mr. Olmert had agreed to cease aerial bombardment for two days.

However, an IDF spokesman, Captain Jacob Dallal, said yesterday that the cessation of aerial activity gave Israel lots of operating room.

“It is a 48-hour cessation of activity. But if there is an imminent threat, if someone is trying to launch a rocket, we have the right to strike. If there is a senior Hezbollah guy we want to target, we will still target him. If there is a weapons truck, we will target it. Finally, air cover will be provided for ground forces,” he said.

Captain Dallal said the pause in aerial activity meant that Israel would not target “general Hezbollah infrastructure,” a broad definition that would include buildings owned by the organization that are related to the military and political operations. “That’s off, those other things are still on,” he said.

Israel’s robust approach to the lull in air attacks appears to have eluded Ms. Rice. On her way back to Washington yesterday, she told reporters that she sought a clarification from the Israelis on their continued air sorties against Hezbollah in light of the prior agreement to cease airstrikes. She said she understood the Israeli operations yesterday were meant as little more than “close air support” for its ground troops.

“We’re going to continue to press on making certain that people can move, that goods can move to people, and I think [the Israelis] have a very strong interest in investigating and reviewing procedures for the kind of strike that caused Qana,” she said. “So that’s the nature of it and that’s what we did; we sought clarification.”

The Jewish state is now in a precarious position. With America’s chief diplomat pushing for a cease-fire, Israel may soon have to choose between angering its most important ally by pressing forward with its military campaign or ending its war on Hezbollah at a moment that would grant the terror militia a clear victory.

Under pressure from his military commanders and the Israeli political right, who have been asking why Israel has not yet launched a no-holds-barred invasion of Lebanon, Mr. Olmert late last night announced a full-scale ground war against Hezbollah positions.

As Ms. Rice flew back to Washington, President Bush did not waver, insisting that conditions on the ground in Lebanon had to change significantly before any cease-fire could come about. In an interview with Fox News, the president said of the temporary cessation of bombing: “Stopping for the sake of stopping can be okay, except it won’t address the root cause of the problem.”

Momentum in Israel appears to be mounting for even more robust action against Hezbollah. In an interview yesterday in Jerusalem, the former Likud chairman of the Knesset’s national security committee, Yuval Steinitz, said: “I think the government is now completely confused. I would expect the army by now to capture southern Lebanon. This should have happened one or two days after the campaign started. I am surprised it has not yet happened.”

[Mr. Bush resisted calls for an immediate halt to fighting, the Associated Press reported yesterday, underlining that any peace deal must ensure that Hezbollah is crippled. He said Iran and Syria must stop backing the Shiite militant group with money and weapons.

“As we work with friends and allies, it’s important to remember this crisis began with Hezbollah’s unprovoked attacks against Israel. Israel is exercising its right to defend itself,” Mr. Bush said.

Hezbollah’s allies Syria and Iran quietly entered the diplomacy. Egypt was pressing Syria not to try to stop an international force in the south, diplomats in Cairo said. Iran’s foreign minister pulled into Beirut for talks with his French and Lebanese counterparts.

Syrian President Assad called on his army yesterday to increase readiness to cope with “regional challenges.” Travelers from Syria have reported that some reservists have been called up for military duty — a sign that Syria is concerned the fighting in Lebanon could spill over.

Hezbollah announced that five of its fighters were killed in the clashes, bringing the group’s acknowledged death toll to 42. Israel says dozens more fighters have

At least 524 people have been killed in Lebanon since the fighting began, according to the Health Ministry. Fifty-one Israelis have died, including 33 soldiers and 18 civilians who died in rocket attacks.]