Israel lifted all restrictions that had been in place in its north since fighting with Hezbollah began, even as talks on an Israeli withdrawal from parts of southern Lebanon were set to take place this week. The movement of borders, troops and paperwork is once again being handled by states and their intermediaries, while people living near the line wait for whichever version of calm the diplomats can assemble next.
The Border as a Negotiating Table
A UNIFIL source said no attacks were recorded on Sunday between Israel and Hezbollah, the first such day since March 2. Israel and Lebanon were expected to negotiate this week over the "pilot zones" for exclusive Lebanese control, with an Israeli source telling Haaretz that the IDF would withdraw from some of these areas. A report by Haaretz cited an Israeli source saying the Israeli military could be required to partially withdraw from the so-called yellow line in southern Lebanon as part of ongoing diplomatic efforts.
Under the reported plan, Lebanese forces would assume responsibility for those areas under close American supervision and would also take control of additional locations not currently held by Israeli troops. The arrangement reads like the usual state relay: one armed authority hands territory to another, with Washington standing over the process and calling it progress.
A renewed ceasefire in Lebanon appeared to be holding, and Israel's military said it would lift movement restrictions for residents near the Israel-Lebanon border on Monday. Cautious calm continued Monday in Lebanon, with no Israeli strikes reported overnight, and Hezbollah had not announced any attacks on Israeli forces since Saturday. The lull in fighting in Lebanon was the longest since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2.
Washington, Tehran, and the Paper House
In Switzerland, Vice President JD Vance said his lengthy talks with senior Iranian officials created a "good foundation for a successful final deal" as the United States and Iran sought a permanent end to the war that the U.S. and Israel began in late February. Vance said, "The final deal is the house. We set the foundation. We haven't built the house, but we've laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people."
He said progress had been made on multiple fronts, including the establishment of "mechanisms" to ensure the Strait of Hormuz stayed open and that a ceasefire held in the fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon. He said the mediation effort in Switzerland started Sunday and stretched into early Monday, and that technical talks would continue this week. Vance said the U.S. Treasury issued a 60-day license waiving sanctions on Iranian oil as part of the interim agreement to end the war, and that the license would last through Aug. 21.
He said the U.S. could agree to unfreeze Iranian assets for purchases of U.S. soy, corn and wheat, and said Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and one of the lead U.S. negotiators, came up with the idea with officials from Qatar. Vance said Qatar would have approval over the process and that Iranian money accessible as sanctions were lifted would buy American products "for the benefit of the Iranian people."
In a joint statement, mediators Pakistan and Qatar hailed what they called "encouraging progress." The interim deal to end the fighting in Iran, signed last week by the leaders of the U.S. and Iran, set a 60-day period for negotiators on issues including the future of Tehran's nuclear program. Vance said he wanted to set up a structure for proper political oversight and said he could not stay in Switzerland for the next 60 days. U.S. envoys Kushner and Steve Witkoff were handling many of the technical details.
The Summit, the Threats, and the Same Old Machinery
Trump did not attend the "Lake Lucerne Summit," but his presence loomed over the talks. The talks were jolted by statements from Trump, who fired off comments that offended the Iranians. Iranian state media said talks had paused after the "publication of an insulting message by the U.S. President," but the negotiations later continued. Vance said, "No, they didn't throw a wrench in the system," and added, "Yes, they did threaten to walk out, or at least there were social media threats that they would walk out. But we were negotiating well past one in the morning yesterday, so they didn't walk out."
Vance also said, "What we told the Iranians yesterday is when you guys engage in what us millennials might call trash talk, you can't expect the President of the United States not to respond and not to correct the record." Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X that mediators delivered "major progress to end the Lebanon War" and said the first "real test" of negotiations would be whether the mechanism succeeded in halting the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. He said neither Israel nor Hezbollah was a signatory to the U.S.-Iran deal.
Vance said, "This region has been a basket case for a very long time." The line lands as a tidy summary from one of the people managing the machinery, even as the machinery keeps running: borders adjusted by military order, restrictions lifted by command, ceasefires brokered through outside supervision, and populations left to live inside the terms set by armed institutions and their diplomatic handlers.