US cannot compel Israel to do anything in conflict with Lebanon, special envoy says

BEIRUT (Reuters) – US special envoy Thomas Barrack said on Monday that when it comes to the conflict between Lebanon and Israel, the US cannot compel Israel to do anything.

"The US has no business in trying to compel Israel to do anything... America could only influence," he said in a press conference in Beirut.

"We are not going to have more boots on the ground in an adversarial nature anywhere."

Israel has been bombing locations inside Lebanon claiming to eliminate Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group.

On July 15, Israeli claimed killing 12 people, including five Hezbollah fighters, in eastern Lebanon in what Israel said was a warning to the group against trying to re-establish itself.

The Israeli military claimed the airstrikes targeted training camps used by elite Hezbollah fighters and warehouses it used to store weapons in the Bekaa Valley region.