Beirut, Lebanon - Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and US Vice President JD Vance discussed a de-confliction mechanism for Lebanon on Monday, 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 defence, 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.

"The IDF has no restrictions on this matter."

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After a first round of US-Iran talks in Switzerland on ending the Middle East war, mediators Pakistan and Qatar said on Monday that Tehran and Washington had agreed to set up a "de-confliction cell" with Lebanon "to ensure the adherence of the termination of military operations" there.

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel in support of its backer Iran, has repeatedly threatened to derail regional peace efforts.

Aoun received a call from Vance, US senior adviser Jared Kushner, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a statement from the Lebanese presidency said.

They discussed "the issue of consolidating the ceasefire in Lebanon, stopping the Israeli military escalation and steps that should be taken in this regard, including the possibility of forming a cell for this purpose," the statement added.

Vance later told a press conference in Switzerland that the "de-confliction mechanism" was being set up to ensure "that when things happen, they don't spiral into a broader escalation."

"We do believe... that we can get to a place where Lebanon's territorial integrity and sovereignty is protected, Israel's security is protected," he said.

"That's going to require some coordination with the Lebanese armed forces, and also it's going to require the Iranians to rein in Hezbollah," Vance added.