BEIRUT, Lebanon - An Israeli attack on a Lebanese border village killed more than 40 people Monday, the prime minister said, raising the day's death toll to 55 in heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas despite efforts toward a cease-fire.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora repeatedly broke into tears as he disclosed the attack during opening remarks at a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Beirut. He appealed to fellow Arab states to help a nation "stunned" by a nearly four-week Israeli onslaught that has devastated Lebanon's infrastructure and left hundreds of civilians dead.

Lebanese Khadijeh Saleh, center, reacts as she is taken away from the scene where a building collapsed on her relatives, in the town of Ghassaniyeh, southern Lebanon, Monday, Aug. 7, 2006, following Israeli air raids. Israeli warplanes launched fresh airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs and Lebanon's southern and eastern regions Monday, killing at least 15 people. [AP]

Saniora said the attack occurred in the village of Houla, where heavy ground fighting between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israeli has been raging in recent days. The Israel army said it is checking the claims about Houla but repeated that residents in villages in southern Lebanon had been warned to leave.

Local TV stations also had reported that about 40 people were buried under the rubble of houses that collapsed after being targeted by Israeli airstrikes.

"An hour ago, there was a horrific massacre in the village of Houla in which more than 40 martyrs were victims of deliberate bombing," he said.

Saniora had to interrupt his remarks several times to choke back tears and wipe his eyes. The ministers broke into applause.

Saniora ripped Israel's attacks, saying: "If these horrific actions are not state terrorism then what is state terrorism?"

He said Israel's attacks took "our country back decades. We are still in the middle of the shock."

The announcement came as Israeli warplanes repeatedly bombed Beirut's southern suburbs and pounded other areas of Lebanon, killing at least 15 people earlier Monday. Fierce fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah guerrillas in south Lebanon also killed one soldier, the Israeli army said.

Both sides appeared to take advantage of the days before a cease-fire resolution, formulated by the US and France, is expected to be put to a vote in the UN Security Council. Hezbollah rocket launched its deadliest rocket barrage on Israel on Sunday, killing 12 Israeli soldiers and three civilians.

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