Beirut/Jerusalem, May 26 -- Israel has dramatically stepped up its military campaign in Lebanon, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring that he had ordered a major escalation aimed at "crushing" Hezbollah despite a ceasefire that officially came into effect last month.
"I have ordered an even greater acceleration of our operations," Netanyahu said in a video statement posted online, as fresh Israeli airstrikes pounded southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday.
"It is true that they are attacking us with drones, including fiber-optic drones, but we have teams working on countermeasures and we will solve this issue," he said. "We will intensify our blows, increase our firepower, and we will crush them."The Israeli offensive led to ma...