U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Monday that a newly established coordination mechanism between Israel, Lebanon, Hezbollah and regional mediators has already produced what he described as the most peaceful 24-hour stretch in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in recent memory, even as he affirmed that “Israel and every other nation in the region” retains the right to self-defense.
Speaking to reporters at the conclusion of the first round of U.S.-Iran technical talks in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, Vance was asked to characterize progress on the Lebanon file, which Iranian officials had signaled would be a central focus of the negotiations. He said the new mechanism, established roughly 24 hours earlier, was designed to keep isolated incidents from escalating into broader conflict.
“So what we’re trying to do is to say first of all, Israel and every other nation in the region has the right of self-defense, but we want to make sure that everybody has that right of self-defense in the background where we’re talking about how to deescalate these conflicts rather than spiraling out of control,” Vance said. “Sometimes what’ll happen is that if the conflict spirals out of control, that’s worse for everybody’s self-defense and worse for everybody’s security.”
Vance described the practical mechanics of the new arrangement, which he said addresses a recurring problem in which lower-level military actions trigger escalating responses without any channel for de-escalation. “Sometimes, you know, you got a bit of a chicken and egg problem that you’ve got a junior guy who fires a drone that didn’t have approval from the high command,” he said. “Okay, of course, Israel has to respond to that. But then sometimes that response, we could actually have a better and more peaceful situation if Israel responds in the context of a conversation that’s ongoing between Hezbollah, Lebanon, Israel, and other partners in the region.”
He said that, until the mechanism was set up at approximately 4 p.m. Bürgenstock time the previous day, no such channel existed. Asked to assess the results so far, Vance pointed to a marked improvement in conditions on the ground. “Now I will say you already see the fruits of that over the past 24 hours have probably been the most peaceful that we’ve seen the situation in Lebanon,” he said. “The previous 24 hours were pretty good. Obviously there was some shooting about 72 hours ago. So this is a work in progress but what we’ve done is actually set up the operation so that we can ensure it doesn’t spiral out of control in the future.”
The new arrangement reportedly differs significantly from the deconfliction structure established in 2024 under the Biden administration, which had included Israel, Lebanon, the United States, France and the United Nations. According to regional reporting, the new mechanism instead brings together the United States, Iran, Lebanon, Qatar and Pakistan — a composition that has reportedly unsettled Israeli officials, who are said to be concerned about being removed from direct oversight of a framework governing conflicts in which Israel is a primary party.
Vance’s affirmation of universal self-defense rights comes at a notable moment in the broader conflict’s trajectory. The remarks follow a period in which U.S. and Israeli strikes targeted Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure, and they arrive even as the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding signed last week permits Iran to maintain its existing ballistic missile arsenal — a provision that has drawn criticism from those who argue Tehran should be required to give up its missile capability as a condition of sanctions relief and de-escalation.
Asked directly whether the U.S. wants Israel to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon, Vance described a balancing act between Israeli security concerns and Lebanese sovereignty. “We want Israel’s security to be protected and we also want Lebanon’s sovereignty to be protected,” he said. “The Israelis have been very clear. They do not have territorial intentions on South Lebanon. The reason they feel they have to be there is because they’re worried about Hezbollah fighters in South Lebanon firing into Israel.” He added that resolving the standoff would require coordination with the Lebanese armed forces and continued pressure on Iran to restrain Hezbollah.
Israeli officials have offered a starkly different public posture on the limits of their freedom to act. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday that Israeli forces retain “complete freedom of action” against threats “in southern Lebanon, in the Gaza Strip, and anywhere it is necessary to defend the State of Israel,” a statement that appeared to push back against any framework that would constrain Israeli military responses to Hezbollah activity.
Vance acknowledged that disagreements over the precise mechanics of implementation remain unresolved. “There, of course, are going to be sometimes disagreements about precisely how to get there, but I actually feel great about where we are in Lebanon,” he said separately during the Switzerland talks. “There’s still some additional wood to chop, but we’re going to keep on working.”
The Lebanon ceasefire mechanism was one of four outcomes Vance cited from the Bürgenstock round, alongside progress on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s agreement to allow IAEA inspectors back into the country, and the establishment of a framework for ongoing technical negotiations. Vance said the technical teams from the U.S. and Iranian delegations remained at the resort following his remarks to continue working through implementation details under the 60-day negotiating window set by last week’s memorandum.