Melissa Clarke: Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon have continued overnight, despite the US President's insistence he'd convinced Israel and Hezbollah to stop attacking each other. Donald Trump's intervention succeeded in pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel planned strikes on the Lebanese capital, Beirut. But the future of the broader Lebanon conflict remains unclear, and residents in both Israel and Lebanon are worried about how it will play out. Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran reports.
Matthew Doran: On the highway leading to Israel's north, the traffic is much lighter than what it usually is. We pass a semi-trailer fully laden with pallets of artillery shells. A reminder the fighting is far from over.
Yael Brodie: I've lived in Metula since November, but I've been in the north for the past eight years.
Matthew Doran: Sitting at a cafe, we meet Yael Brodie.
Yael Brodie: We don't care how, it needs to end. We cannot continue living like this, and we cannot leave this area, because if we surrender to the people that are trying to kill us, we're losing our country.
Matthew Doran: A short drive away in the kibbutz of Misgav Am, Alysha Morduch says there's a disconnect between what's happening in her community and what the rest of the country is experiencing.
Alysha Morduch: I think I feel forgotten and lied to a little bit, because life is completely normal in Tel Aviv, but life is not normal for us here.
Israel Katz: There is no ceasefire inside Lebanon, and the IDF continues its operations against Hezbollah.
Matthew Doran: Israel's Defence Minister is Israel Katz.
Israel Katz: The test for the policy of protecting the communities will be simple, and will become clear in the coming days. Whether the firing on the communities stops, or whether there will be firing on the communities, and then we will attack Dahiyeh in Beirut.
Matthew Doran: It's a threat, or perhaps a promise, seemingly at odds with what the US President Donald Trump said less than 24 hours earlier, that he'd spoken to both sides and they committed not to attack each other. That was a call which reportedly included an expletive-laden character assessment of the Israeli Prime Minister. Benjamin Netanyahu is facing immense political pressure to expand the war in Lebanon. His far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, demanding he push back against the White House and attack the Lebanese capital. In Beirut's southern suburbs, shopkeeper Yehya Hallak has packed his life into the back of his van.
Yehya Hallak: Is there anyone who isn't exhausted? From one displacement to another, and then another. I'm tired. How much longer can this go on?
Matthew Doran: He fled Dahiyeh yesterday as the threat of Israeli strikes on the so-called Hezbollah stronghold suburb loomed.
Yehya Hallak: Of course every person is afraid. After years of war, people have become numb and exhausted. We're all fed up, but we still fear for the children and the women. In the end, there's nothing more precious than life.
Matthew Doran: It's a sentiment shared, albeit for different reasons, on the other side of the border, as Misgav Am resident Ron Ohana explains.
Ron Ohana: We just want peace and quiet. We want to be in a stable situation. We want to be able to be outside and not fear of missiles or drones or whatever.
Matthew Doran: This is Matthew Doran on the Israel-Lebanon border, reporting for AM.