US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held their first call in seven weeks on Wednesday amid tensions with Iran.

The conversation, confirmed by both countries, comes as Israel expands its ground incursion into Lebanon and considers how to respond to Iran’s recent ballistic missile attack.

“It was direct, it was productive,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who added that the leaders discussed a long list of issues on the call, including Israel's deliberations on how it will respond to Iran.

The Middle East has been on edge awaiting Israel's response to a missile attack last week that Tehran carried out in retaliation for Israel's military escalation in Lebanon. The Iranian attack ultimately killed no one in Israel and Washington called it ineffective.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant issued a warning to Iran should it attack Israel.

In a video issued by his office, Gallant described Iran's October 1 missile attack as a failure, and said: "Whoever attacks us will be hurt and will pay a price. Our attack will be deadly, precise and above all surprising, they will not understand what happened and how it happened, they will see the results."

Netanyahu has promised that arch-foe Iran will pay for its missile attack, while Tehran has said any retaliation would be met with vast destruction, raising fears of a wider war in the oil-producing region which could draw in the United States.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Relations between Biden and Netanyahu have been tense recently, strained over the Israeli leader’s handling of the war in Gaza and the conflict with Hezbollah. (Reuters/AP/AFP)