"I have a message for the people of Lebanon: Israel's war is not with you. It's with Hezbollah," Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday, a day which a Lebanese official described as "the deadliest day in the country since the end of the civil war in 1989."

Netanyahu made his statement in English, turning directly to the citizens of Lebanon while a massive series of airstrikes on Hezbollah targets on Lebanon were ongoing.

His statement also echoed warning messages sent by Israel since the morning, when the IDF began a series of announcements using flyers, SMS messages, radio statements and social media warnings — all with the goal of evacuating Lebanese citizens from southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, where most of Hezbollah's infrastructure is located.

"For too long, Hezbollah has been using you as human shields. It placed rockets in your living rooms and missiles in your garage. Those rockets and missiles are aimed directly at our cities, directly at our citizens," Netanyahu said.

"To defend our people against Hezbollah strikes, we must take out those weapons. Starting this morning, the IDF has warned you to get out of harm's way. Please, get out of harm's way now. Once our operation is finished, you can come back safely to your homes."

By the evening, thousands of Lebanese had heeded the Israeli warnings, with fleeing residents causing large traffic jams on the highways leading north.

Lebanese authorities had reported 274 dead and over 1,000 wounded. The numbers don't differentiate between civilians and terrorists, however.

In an earlier statement made in the IDF headquarters, where Netanyahu spent most of the day, the prime minister said: "I would like to clarify Israel's policy to whoever does not yet understand: We are not waiting for the threat, we are pre-empting it — everywhere, in every sector, constantly.

"We are eliminating senior figures, terrorists and missiles — and our arm is still extended. Whoever tries to harm us, we will harm them all the more forcefully.

"I promised that we would change the security balance, the balance of forces in the north — this is exactly what we are doing. We are destroying thousands of missiles and rockets that are directed at Israel's cities and citizens."

By the time of his statement, Hezbollah had retaliated by firing over 175 rockets at Israel, including many areas deep within Israeli territory that hadn't been targeted before.

"Citizens of Israel, I ask of you two things: Follow the directives of Home Front Command, they save lives; and stand together with determination, responsibility and — of course — patience," Netanyahu said.

"Together we will stand strong, together we will fight and with God's help, together we will win."

Republished with permission of All Israel News.