A US official confirmed that the United States helped Israel track Hezbollah missiles and drones that were fired at Israel on Sunday morning, according to the Antiwar media website.

The official insisted that US assistance did not go beyond intelligence, saying the United States did not participate in the strikes on Lebanon and did not intercept any Hezbollah missiles or drones.

After Israel began bombing Lebanon early Sunday morning, Hezbollah announced it would launch a retaliatory attack for the assassination of Fuad Shukr, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on July 30. The attack came as the United States and Israel were still bracing for an Iranian response to Israel’s assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31. The United States has deployed additional fighter jets and warships to the region to defend Israel from Iran or in case the conflict with Hezbollah escalates into a major war. As part of the effort, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, made a surprise visit to the Middle East, arriving in Jordan on Saturday. Brown told Reuters he planned to discuss “things we can do to deter any kind of broader escalation and ensure that we take all appropriate steps (to) avoid … a broader conflict.”

While the United States claims to be seeking to de-escalate tensions by continuing to provide military aid to Israel and pledging to defend it from any consequences for its actions, the United States has encouraged Israel to continue its escalation. In April, the United States intervened to intercept Iranian missiles and drones fired at Israel in response to the Israeli bombing of an Iranian consulate in Syria. The Pentagon has vowed to do the same in the event of another Iranian attack.