When & how will Israel hit back at Iran? US President Joe Biden 'has a good idea'

File: US President Joe Biden has been in touch with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the Oct 1 attack

Ever since Iran unleashed an unprecedented missile blitz on Israel earlier this month, the world has been anxiously awaiting a powerful counterstrike from the Jewish nation.

It has been clear that an Israeli counter is not a matter of if, but when. US is closely working with Israel on a potential reply to the Iranian strike and has been assured that Jerusalem will not target the country's nuclear facilities.

US President Joe Biden, who has been in touch with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an effort to carefully navigate the volatile situation, was recently asked about Israel's plan to respond to Iran.

During his visit to Germany, outgoing President Biden said he has an understanding of how and when Israel was going to retaliate against missile attacks by Iran.

"Do you know when and how Israel will respond against Iran," a reporter asked Biden. He responded: "Yes and Yes." When pressed about the details, he said: "No and No."

During his interaction with reporters, Biden also said that he seen an "opportunity" to potentially put a halt to the Israel-Iran fighting "for a while".

"There's an opportunity in my view and my colleagues agree that we can probably deal with Israel and Iran in a way that ends the conflict for a while. That ends the conflict, in other words, that stops the back and forth," Biden said.

Biden added that he believed there was a possibility of working towards a ceasefire in Lebanon but that such efforts would be harder in Gaza.

Pledges from Israel and its enemies Hamas and Hezbollah to keep fighting in Gaza and Lebanon dashed hopes on Friday that the death of Palestinian militant leader Yahya Sinwar might hasten an end to more than a year of escalating war in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, US has also sent the THAAD air defence battery to Israel to help the country protect itself in the event of an Iranian reaction to its response.

Tensions escalated in the Middle East region since Iran launched nearly 200 missiles at Israel on October 1.

Though the missiles did not cause much damage due to Israel's power defence systems, PM Netanyahu said that Iran's attack was a "big mistake" and vowed to retaliate.