President Biden Doesn't Believe The War Will End In The Middle East

President Joe Biden. (Wikimedia Commons/The White House)

JAKARTA - United States President Joe Biden said he did not believe an all-out war would take place in the Middle East, with Israel considering retaliatory options following Iran's missile attacks.

However, President Biden said more needed to be done to avoid war in the Middle East, as the Israeli military attacked Beirut with new airstrikes in its battle against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

When asked by reporters in Washington on Thursday how confident he was that such a war could be avoided, President Biden said, "How sure are you that that won't happen? Here, I don't believe there will be an all-out war. I think we can avoid it," he said.

"But there is still a lot to be done, there is still a lot to be done," President Biden continued.

While the United States, the European Union and other allies have called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire in the Israeli-Lebanon conflict, President Biden said the US was in discussions with Israel regarding its options for responding to Tehran's attack, which included an Israeli attack on Iran's oil facility.

"We're discussing that," Biden told reporters.

However, President Biden added: "Nothing will happen today."

When asked then if he urged Israel not to attack Iran's oil installation, President Biden said he would not discuss public negotiations.

On Wednesday, President Biden said he would not support Israel's attack on Iran's nuclear site.

Meanwhile, Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told CNN on Thursday his country had "many options" to take retaliation and would show Tehran its strength "immediately".

A US official said Washington was unsure that Israel had decided how to respond to Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised Iran will pay for Tuesday's missile strike, while Washington says it will cooperate with its old allies to ensure Iran faces "heavy consequences."

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian while speaking in Doha, Qatar said on Thursday Tehran would be ready to respond.

"Every type of military attack, terrorist act, or past the red limit we will respond with a firm response by our armed forces," he said.

Israel says its operations in Lebanon aim to allow tens of thousands of its citizens to return home after Hezbollah's bombing during the Gaza war forced them to flee the northern region.

More than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced by Israeli attacks, and nearly 2.000 people have died since the start of Israeli attacks in Lebanon since last year, most of them in the past two weeks, the Lebanese authorities said.

On Friday morning, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said 27 people were killed and 151 people injured the previous day.