TEL AVIV, September 23. /TASS/. The Israeli military is preparing to strike facilities of the Shiite Hezbollah organization in the Beqaa Valley in eastern Lebanon soon and is urging the local population to evacuate from dangerous areas, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said during a briefing.

"We are preparing to attack terrorist targets in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon in the near future. Hezbollah stores strategic weapons in civilian buildings there and uses the population as human shields, deliberately putting them at risk," he said.

The spokesman urged residents in that area of Lebanon to stay away from Hezbollah-related sites. "Stay away from them for your own safety and protection. You see what we are doing now in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah is planning to use these weapons to strike Israel territory. We will not allow that to happen," Hagari added.

Since the beginning of the day, the Israeli Air Force has continued to carry out massive strikes in southern Lebanon, targeting military facilities of the Shiite organization Hezbollah. According to Israeli statements, the strikes are a response to months of shelling of northern regions of the Jewish state by Hezbollah units, which has led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of Israelis from the border area. As per the latest figures from the Israeli army, more than 300 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon have already been attacked since this morning.