Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday Israel faced "complicated days" as it stepped up strikes against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and he called on Israelis to stay united as the campaign unfolded.

"I promised that we would change the security balance, the balance of power in the north - that is exactly what we are doing," he said in a message issued following a situational assessment at military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

The Israeli military on Monday increased the scope of its air strikes against Hezbollah, as it warned residents of the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon's east to stay away from the Lebanese armed group's sites.

"We are continuing to monitor Hezbollah's preparations in the field in order to proactively thwart attacks against Israeli territory, and we are systematically broadening our strikes against Hezbollah," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said at a media briefing. 

Lebanese Health Ministry said around 60 towns in the country's southern and eastern regions were targeted by Israeli airstrikes, leaving 182 people dead that include women, children and paramedics.

Education authorities also announced that schools in Lebanon's east and south as well as in Beirut's southern suburbs would shut for two days as Israeli strikes intensified. 

(With input from agencies)