Vance: Hezbollah must stop firing at Israel, which shouldn’t ‘go wild’ in Lebanon

Asked at a White House press conference about the clause of the US-Iran agreement extending the ceasefire to Lebanon, US Vice President JD Vance says that he still expects some conflict between Israel and Hezbollah there but that he hopes both abide by the deal.

“This is about regional peace,” Vance says. “And what that means is, we expect Hezbollah is not going to be firing rockets and firing drones at the Israelis. But we also expect that the Israelis are not going to be going wild in Lebanon.”

He adds, “Both sides have to honor their end of the deal.”

Iran has demanded that Israel withdraw its troops from a buffer zone in Lebanon as part of the agreement, which Israel has vowed not to do in order to continue combating Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and has targeted northern Israel with missile fire throughout the war.

US President Donald Trump has strongly objected to Israel striking Hezbollah in Beirut in response to the terror group’s attacks.

Vance says, “Now, as you guys know, sometimes these ceasefires are a little messy… We have seen radical progress in Lebanon: less shooting, less firing, but you’re still going to have these little flare-ups from time to time.”

He adds, “And eventually, what we’re going to want to see is the Lebanese government, the elected representatives of the people of Lebanon, who are able to police southern Lebanon so that Hezbollah has not taken over the country, the Israelis are not threatened, and then consequently the Israelis are not attacking southern Lebanon or Beirut either. That’s the plan there.”