Pentagon Confirms US Does Not Provide Intelligence Support To Israel For Operations In Lebanon

US Marine air patrols above the Pentagon. (Wikimedia Commons/US Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Brian R. Domzalski)

JAKARTA - The United States Department of Defense (Pentagon) stressed that the country's military did not provide intelligence support to Israel for its operations in Lebanon.

Pentagon spokesman Sabrina Singh said there were no Israeli ground attacks on Lebanon in the near future, but referred reporters to ask Israel about the operation and its plans.

When asked if the United States supported Israeli operations in Lebanon, including with intelligence support, Singh said: "No. No support," as quoted by Reuters, September 26.

"In terms of Lebanon, the US military was not involved in the Israeli operation," Singh stressed.

It is unclear whether Singh's statement applies to sharing real-time US intelligence information about Hezbollah missiles that may lead to Israel.

Earlier, Israel's military chief told his troops on Wednesday that airstrikes in Lebanon would continue to destroy Hezbollah's infrastructure and to prepare a way for possible ground operations by Israeli forces.

Singh further said the United States Government was making diplomatic efforts to defuse the situation between Israel and Hezbollah.

Israel's airstrikes this week have targeted Hezbollah leaders and hit hundreds of sites within Lebanon, of which hundreds of thousands of people have fled the border, while the group has fired a series of rockets at Israel.

"You see the full pressure from the United States government and this government. We want to see a diplomatic solution, and we want to see it soon," Singh added.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said an all-out war might occur in the Middle East, but there is also a possible settlement in the Israeli conflict in Gaza and Hezbollah.