Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday his government had not responded to a US-led push for a 21-day ceasefire in its military assault on Lebanon.
"It is an American-French proposal, which the prime minister has not even responded to," said a statement from Netanyahu's office, adding that he had ordered the army "to continue the fighting with full force".
In a separate statement, the military said a tank brigade conducted an exercise "a few kilometres from the Lebanese border... in thicketed, mountainous terrain" on Thursday morning.
"During the exercise, the troops enhanced their operational and logistical readiness for various combat scenarios in enemy territory on the northern front," the statement said.
Speaking to soldiers and commanders at an air base in central Israel, air force chief Major General Tomer Bar said preparations were underway for possible ground operations.
"We are essentially preparing shoulder to shoulder with the Northern Command for a potential ground manoeuvre. We are preparing for its activation if necessary," Bar said, while noting that the decision was "above us".
He said the air force was already working to prevent arms transfers to Hezbollah from Iran.
"We are currently in Lebanon to prevent any possibility of arms transfers from Iran in light of what we have already taken from Hezbollah," Bar said.
"This mission is becoming the top priority because (Hezbollah chief Hassan) Nasrallah's security and Hezbollah's ability to recover from what happened to them a few days ago depend on the open conduit coming from Iran."