"We have dealt a real blow to Hezbollah. There are a few hundred Hezbollah terrorists who are dead, killed," Ambassador Daniel Ayalon told CBS's "Face the Nation" television program.

"A lot of the arsenal is gone. Basically, the longer-range (weapons)," Ayalon said.

He said the military campaign was "not easy" but Israel was making progress, adding: "And in a few days, you will see a totally different situation."

While the ambassador to Washington struck an optimistic tone about the campaign, an Israeli minister expressed disappointment on Sunday at the results of the offensive, saying it was an illusion to think Hezbollah could be completely wiped out as an armed force.

Minister without portfolio Eitan Cabel, speaking on the 12th day of the offensive, said: "I admit I had hoped for better from the army."

His comments, on Israel's Channel 10, were the first by a minister to openly express reservations on the success of the operation in which thousands of Lebanese have been wounded and around half a million displaced.

The ambassador would not say how long Israel's offensive might last but reiterated that no large-scale invasion of Lebanon was planned.

"What we're doing now in southern Lebanon is really mopping up, mop-up operations against the fortifications of the Hezbollah, which was right smack dab against our borders, allowing them to keep a number of soldiers and to attack us," Ayalon said.

Israel launched its assault in Lebanon after Hezbollah carried out a cross-border raid, seizing two Israeli servicemen and killing another eight.

Israel has said that it aims to rout the militant Shiite group from southern Le

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