Widespread Israeli airstrikes targeting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon killed nearly 200 people Monday, the health ministry in Beirut said, as Israel cautioned that strikes against the group would expand and Lebanese civilians were warned to flee areas the Iran-backed terror group may be hiding weapons.

The IDF said the air force was targeting homes where “rockets, drones and missiles” were emplaced by Hezbollah, and repeatedly urged civilians in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley to flee from homes where such weapons were stored.

Meanwhile, sirens warning of incoming rockets rang deep into northern Israel for the second day in a row, a day after the terror group bombarded communities with at least 150 rockets in one of its heaviest volleys since fighting broke out on October 8 last year.

In Lebanon, videos shared on social media appeared to show masses fleeing major cities, and authorities began opening schools to shelter thousands of newly displaced.

The Israel Defense Forces said it struck over 300 targets across Lebanon on Monday, including many homes it said housed weapons directly threatening the country, in one of the most intense barrages of airstrikes since a 2006 war against Hezbollah, ratcheting up fears of a fresh outbreak of all-out conflict on the restive border.

At least 182 people were killed in the strikes and more than 727 wounded, Lebanon’s health ministry said, marking the deadliest day in Lebanon since Hezbollah began firing at Israel last year, drawing Israeli counterstrikes.

The dead and wounded included women and children, the ministry said. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah on casualties within the terror group, which has suffered heavy losses in recent days.

On social media, videos showed long lines of traffic as civilians tried to reach safety, and streams of vehicles flowing out of small mountainside towns.

In one video, cars could be seen queued up on a highway lined with Hezbollah and Lebanese flags as black smoke from recent airstrikes billowed in the background.

In the seaside city of Sidon, all eight lanes of Rafic Hariri Boulevard were filled with cars pointed north as they sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

In Nabatiyeh, a video showed a number of people in cars trying to leave town blocked off as a massive explosion erupted in front of them.

In a press conference, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari noted that some videos of strikes depicted secondary explosions, pointing to these as evidence of Hezbollah weapons stores.

“The sights that are now seen in southern Lebanon are Hezbollah’s weapons exploding inside houses. Every home we struck, there are rockets, drones, missiles, which were intended to kill Israeli civilians,” Hagari said, urging civilians in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley to flee from homes where Hezbollah has been storing weapons.

Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, said civilians had two hours to leave Beqaa.

The Lebanese health ministry asked hospitals in southern Lebanon and the eastern Beqaa Valley to postpone surgeries that could be done later. The ministry said in a statement that its request aimed to keep hospitals ready to deal with people wounded by “Israel’s expanding aggression on Lebanon.”

Earlier Monday, Israel urged residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate from homes and other buildings where it claimed Hezbollah has stored weapons, saying the military would conduct “extensive strikes” against the militant group.

Lebanese media reported that residents received text messages urging them to move away from any building where Hezbollah stores arms.

“If you are in a building housing weapons for Hezbollah, move away from the village until further notice,” the Arabic message read, according to Lebanese media.

Lebanon’s Information Minister Ziad Makary told his countrymen to ignore the warnings, noting that his office in Beirut had received a recorded message telling people to leave the building.

“This comes in the framework of the psychological war implemented by the enemy,” Makary said, urging people “not to give the matter more attention than it deserves.”

Ahead of the mass exodus, residents of villages in southern Lebanon posted photos on social media of airstrikes and large plumes of smoke.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency also reported airstrikes on different areas, including some far from the border.

The agency said strikes hit a forested area in the central province of Byblos, about 130 kilometers (81 miles) north of the Israeli-Lebanese border, for the first time since Hezbollah began firing at Israel in October. No injuries were reported there. Israel also bombed targets in the northeastern Baalbek and Hermel regions, where a shepherd was killed and two family members were wounded, according to the news agency. It said a total of 30 people were wounded in strikes.

Some 80,000 Lebanese were thought to have already fled southern Lebanon over the last 12 months, which have seen near-daily cross-border Hezbollah rocket attacks and Israeli airstrikes. Another 60,000 people in northern Israel have been forced to evacuate their homes.

Israel has long accused Hezbollah of transforming entire communities in southern Lebanon into terror bases, with hidden rocket launchers and other infrastructure.

Monday morning saw Hagari show previously unreleased footage of Hezbollah operatives preparing to launch a cruise missile from within a civilian home in a southern Lebanon village. The building was targeted in an airstrike.

The cruise missile was identified by the IDF as a Russian-made “DR-3,” which appeared to be a variant of the Tupolev Tu-143 drone, also called VR-3.

The IDF said the missile was packed with some 300 kilograms of explosives and had a range of up to 200 kilometers.

“Hezbollah puts you and your families in danger. Hezbollah is planning to launch these weapons toward Israel. Stay away from them immediately for your own protection,” Hagari told south Lebanese civilians in the earlier warning.

He said the military was carrying out continuous assessments with regard to guidelines for the Israeli home front, as fighting with Hezbollah escalates.

“If necessary, we will update on any change immediately,” he said.

An Israeli military official said Israel is focused on aerial operations and has no immediate plans for a ground operation. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with regulations, said the strikes are aimed at curbing Hezbollah’s ability to launch more strikes into Israel.

Hezbollah began firing into Israel a day after its ally Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel in what it said was an attempt to pin down Israeli forces to help Palestinian fighters in Gaza. Israel has retaliated with airstrikes, with the conflict steadily intensifying over the past year.

An Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb on Friday killed top Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil and other terror leaders.

Last week, thousands of communications devices, used mainly by Hezbollah members, exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000. Lebanon blamed Israel for the attacks, but Israel did not confirm or deny responsibility.

Israel has vowed to push Hezbollah back from the border so its citizens can return to their homes, saying it prefers to do so diplomatically but is willing to use force. Hezbollah has said it will keep up its attacks until there is a ceasefire in Gaza, but that appears increasingly elusive as the war nears its anniversary.

The terror group has named 506 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. Another 79 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have also been killed.

Israel has suffered 26 civilian deaths, along with 22 IDF soldiers reservists killed in Hezbollah-led rocket, missile and drone attacks.