Live updates: Israel strikes Iran as war rages in Gaza and Lebanon

US President Joe Biden expressed hope on Saturday that Israel’s latest airstrikes on Iran marked the end of a period of escalation in the Middle East.

“It looks like they didn’t hit anything other than military targets. I hope this is the end,” he told reporters in Philadelphia, noting that he had spent time receiving information from the intelligence community earlier Saturday.

The president said he received warning ahead of the Israeli strikes. Biden administration officials said the U.S. was not directly involved in the attack but consulted closely with Israel.

Before this weekend’s strikes, Biden “encouraged” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to develop a retaliatory attack on Iran that would “deter future attacks on Israel,” a senior US administration official said.

American officials expected Israel will retaliate against Iran shortly before November 5, a schedule that will thrust growing instability in the Middle East squarely into the public eye just days after the US presidential election.

What ended up being a carefully crafted Israeli response shows that The US can still influence Israel’s actions in the region “whenever he wants,” geopolitical analyst H.A. told CNN. Hellyer.

CNN’s Catherine Nicholls contributed to this post.