Lebanon's prime minister says Israeli airstrikes killed more than 40 people in the border village of Houla.

Fuad Siniora called the attack a horrific massacre.

Israeli airstrikes in other parts of southern and eastern Lebanon killed at least 23 people Monday, including five who died in strikes on an apartment complex in Tyre.

Israeli warplanes hit Hezbollah strongholds in southern Beirut and the Bekaa Valley and destroyed a makeshift bridge over the Litani River north of Tyre.

Israeli ground troops are also fighting Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon. Israel says one soldier was killed today and several were wounded in the town of Bint Jbail.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah militants fired another barrage of rockets into northern Israel, wounding at least one civilian.

Israeli media report that Israel's military has asked Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for permission to expand its targets in Lebanon to include the country's vital infrastructure.