Live Updates: Israel attacks Iran as war rages in Gaza and Lebanon

US President Joe Biden expressed hope on Saturday that the latest Israeli air strikes on Iran mark the end of a phase of escalation in the Middle East.

“It looks like they hit nothing other than military targets. I hope this is the end,” he told reporters in Philadelphia, noting that he had taken time to get a briefing from the intelligence community earlier Saturday.

The president said he received advance warning of the Israeli attacks. Biden administration officials said the US was not directly involved in the attack but consulted closely with Israel.

Before this weekend's attacks, Biden “encouraged” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to plan a retaliatory strike against Iran that would “deter future attacks against Israel,” a senior U.S. government official said.

American officials had expected Israel to retaliate against Iran some time before November 5, a timeline that would bring growing volatility in the Middle East into sharp public awareness within days of the American presidential election.

What was ultimately a highly calculated Israeli response shows that the US can still influence Israel's actions in the region “whenever it wants,” geopolitical analyst HA Hellyer told CNN.

CNN's Catherine Nicholls contributed to this story.