Lebanese president discusses Israel truce with senior US, Qatari officials
A man looks through the shattered window of a damaged apartment following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in the town of Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and U.S. Vice President JD Vance discussed a de-confliction mechanism for Lebanon on June 22, Aoun's office said, as Vance said the move aimed to prevent spiralling Israel-Hezbollah violence.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nonetheless declared that Israeli forces had been granted "full freedom" to engage any threat encountered in southern Lebanon, reaffirming that troops would remain deployed in the region for as long as deemed necessary.
"My directive, and that of the minister of defense, to the IDF is clear and has not changed: Our fighters in southern Lebanon have full freedom of action to thwart any direct or developing threat to them or to the residents of the North," Netanyahu said in a statement.
