JERUSALEM — Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes in southern Lebanon today, hours after agreeing to temporarily halt raids while investigating a bombing that killed nearly 60 Lebanese civilians, mostly women and children seeking shelter.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to a 48-hour halt in the airstrikes beginning at 2 a.m. today while the military concludes its inquiry into the attack on the south Lebanese village of Qana. But Israel left open the option it might hit targets to stop imminent attacks or if the military completed its inquiry within 48 hours.

Today's airstrikes near the village of Taibe were meant to protect ground forces operating in the area and were not targeting anyone or anything specific, the army said.

In a second airstrike around the port city of Tyre, Israel accidentally killed a Lebanese soldier when it hit a car that it believed was carrying a senior Hezbollah official, the Israeli army said. Lebanese security officials said the soldier was killed by a rocket strike from a drone aircraft.

The Israeli army justified the action, saying the leader believed to have been in the car was a threat to Israel. Instead, the car was carrying a Lebanese army officer and soldiers.

"They were, of course, not the targets and we regret the incident," the army said.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah guerrillas attacked an Israeli tank in southern Lebanon, wounding three soldiers, the military said. The attack occurred near Kila and Taibe on the border, where Israeli ground forces have been fighting Hezbollah guerrillas for nearly two weeks.

Israel Radio also reported that Hezbollah rockets hit the northern town of Kiryat Shemona. No casualties were reported.

Hours before the fighting resumed, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged the U.N. Security Council to arrange a cease-fire agreement by week's end that would include an international force to help Lebanese forces control southern Lebanon. But Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz made clear that Israel would not agree to an immediate cease-fire and in fact planned to expand military operations in Lebanon.

"It's forbidden to agree to an immediate cease-fire," Peretz told parliament as several Arab legislators heckled him and demanded an immediate halt to the offensive. "Israel will expand and strengthen its activities against the Hezbollah."

Israel's top ministers were to discuss expanding the army's ground operation at a meeting later today, while thousands of reserve soldiers trained for the possibility they will be sent into Lebanon to participate in the 20-day-long battle.

Olmert told Rice over the weekend that Israel would need 10 to 14 more days to finish its offensive, and Justice Minister Haim Ramon told Army Radio today he did not believe the fighting was over yet.

The stunning bloodshed in Qana increased international pressure on Washington to back an immediate end to the fighting and prompted Rice to cut short her Mideast mission to return home today. Hezbollah vowed on its Al-Manar television: "The massacre at Qana will not go unanswered." It hit northern Israel on Sunday with 157 rockets — the highest one-day total during the offensive — with one Israeli wounded moderately and 12 others hurt slightly, medics said.

Israel apologized for the deaths and promised an investigation but said Hezbollah had fired more than 40 rockets from Qana before the airstrike, including several from near the building that was bombed.