The White House said it believes an Iranian attack on Israel could happen in the coming days, amid international and regional anticipation of this response at a time when a new round of ceasefire talks in the Gaza Strip and prisoner exchange began.

White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Advisor John Kirby said he believed Iran had not backed down from its threat to attack Israel, perhaps using what he described as its proxies in the region.

Regarding the ceasefire and prisoner exchange negotiations that began in Doha on Thursday, Kirby said that Washington urges all parties to sit at the Gaza negotiating table.

In the same context, the White House said that the National Security Team briefed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on US military efforts to support the defense of Israel.

The White House added that the team also briefed the president and vice president on ongoing diplomatic efforts to defuse regional tensions, conclude a ceasefire agreement and release detainees.

The White House confirmed that the national security team will continue to provide regular briefings to Biden and Harris on the situation in the Middle East.

For his part, US Senator Bernie Sanders said that his country should stop providing military aid to Israel and supporting its war machine.

Sanders added - in an interview with the American CNN network - that the Biden administration's support for Israel will affect the orientations of young voters and some progressives during the upcoming presidential elections, according to him.

Since the end of last July, Israel has declared a state of alert in anticipation of a response from Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah after the assassination of the party’s leader, Fouad Shukr, in Beirut, and the head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, while he was in Tehran.

In an effort to curb the escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, US envoy to Lebanon Amos Hochstein arrived in the Lebanese capital on Wednesday to meet with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.