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U.S. Launches Operation Hawkeye Strike on ISIS Targets in Syria After Palmyra Killings

Officials call it a large, multi‑platform assault on ISIS infrastructure directly tied to the Dec. 13 attack that killed two soldiers and a U.S. interpreter.

This photo provided by the U.S. Air Force shows a U.S. Airman preparing an A-10 Thunderbolt II for flight from a base in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in support of Operation Hawkeye Strike. (U.S. Air Force/DVIDS via AP)
DOVER, DELAWARE - DECEMBER 17: U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth salute as a U.S. Army carry team moves a flagged-draped transfer case containing the remains of Iowa National Guardsman Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar at Dover Air Force Base on December 17, 2025 in Dover, Delaware. Iowa National Guard members Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard and Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, a U.S. civilian working as an interpreter, were killed during a recent ambush by an Islamic State (IS) gunman in Syria. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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Overview

  • U.S. Central Command said forces conducted a large‑scale strike on ISIS infrastructure and weapons sites across central Syria under Operation Hawkeye Strike.
  • Roughly 70 targets were hit in areas including Deir ez‑Zor, Raqqa and the Homs desert near Palmyra, with fighter jets, A‑10s, Apache helicopters and HIMARS employed.
  • Jordanian aircraft supported the operation as the Pentagon released imagery of coordinated Air Force and Army strikes using precision munitions.
  • The action followed the Dec. 13 shooting near Palmyra that killed Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres‑Tovar, Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard and interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat; Syrian officials identified the gunman as a base security guard suspected of ISIS sympathies, and ISIS has not claimed the attack.
  • President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth framed the operation as retribution, U.S. officials reported many enemy fighters killed without confirmed totals, Syria’s government pledged cooperation against IS, and more strikes could follow.