PHILADELPHIA   -   US President Joe Biden expressed hope Saturday that the Israeli strikes on Iran marks the end of a period of escalation in the Middle East. “It looks like they didn’t hit anything other than military targets. My hope is this is the end,” he told reporters in Philadelphia, noting that he spent time earlier Saturday being briefed by the intelligence community. The president said he did receive a heads up ahead of the Israeli strikes. Biden administration officials have said the US was not directly involved with the strike, but had been consulting closely with Israel. Biden also said he was “not surprised” that former President Donald Trump has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but acknowledged he was concerned that Trump was not representing the US in those conversations.