Joe Biden issues warning to Israel as he refuses to back strike on Iran's nuclear sites

Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah and several other senior members were killed during Israeli airstrikes last week.

The US has consistently urged for a reduction in tensions and has been at the forefront of prolonged efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.

On Wednesday, Biden spoke to reporters during a trip to tour hurricane damage in North Carolina with Kamala Harris.

One reporter asked: "Would you support an attack on Iran's nuclear sites by Israel?"

The US president said: "The answer is no."

He added that America "will be discussing with the Israelis what they're gonna do".

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Biden also explained that he had consulted with the leaders of other G7 countries and they had agree that Israel "has the right to respond, but they should respond proportionally".

At a briefing, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said: "It’s clear that this was an unprecedented escalation by Iran.

"Israel has the right to respond to it. We’re having discussions about what that response will be".

On Tuesday Biden said the US military in the region had helped shoot down the missiles fired from Iran.

He said the Iranian attack had been "defeated and ineffective".

The president described it "a testament to intensive planning between the United States and Israel to anticipate and defend against the brazen attack we expected."

He added: "Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel."