US President Donald Trump insisted on Sunday in a post to Truth Social that the US “had nothing to do with the attack on Iran tonight,” distancing Washington from Israel’s widening Operation Rising Lion while threatening Tehran with “force never seen before” if it strikes American targets.

He added that a deal to “end this bloody conflict” remained within reach if Iran and Israel were willing to talk.

The president’s remarks came after the deadliest night of the five-day confrontation. Iranian ballistic missiles and drones pierced Israel’s defenses shortly before midnight, collapsing an eight-story apartment block in Bat Yam and shattering homes in Tamra and Rehovot. By morning, emergency services confirmed at least six Israelis dead, including three children, and more than 300 wounded.

Israel’s response was immediate, with the air force striking surface-to-surface missile launchers in western Iran, igniting storage tanks at Tehran’s Shahran fuel depot, and setting part of the South Pars gas field ablaze, forcing Iran to suspend production at the world’s largest natural-gas complex.

Israeli and White House officials now expect the campaign to last “weeks, not days,” according to a CNN report cited. They say Washington has given Jerusalem quiet backing as long as civilian harm is minimized.

While the fighting shows no sign of slowing, Trump maintained that diplomacy is still possible. “If Iran wants peace and prosperity for its people, it must step back from the nuclear brink,” he said in a brief statement to reporters before departing the White House for Camp David. “If not, the consequences will be historic.”

With missile sirens continuing to sound across Israel and oil prices already up nine percent since Friday, diplomats warn that the window for de-escalation is rapidly closing, even as the American president offers to broker a cease-fire he claims could end the conflict “in a matter of days.”