US launches widespread airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria after deadly Palmyra attack

On December 19, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that “U.S. forces have commenced a large-scale strike against  [Islamic State] ISIS infrastructure and weapons sites in Syria.” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the operation, dubbed “Hawkeye Strike,” was “not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance” launched in response to the December 13 terrorist attack near Palmyra, Syria, that killed two members of the Iowa National Guard and a civilian interpreter. Syrian authorities later confirmed that the shooter was a member of the security forces and said he had been under investigation for “extremist ideas.”

Syria’s state Syrian News Channel quoted local sources as saying that “the international coalition targeted ISIS sites in the Maadan desert in rural Raqqa, the al-Hammad desert in rural Deir ez-Zor, and the Jabal al-Amour area near Palmyra in Homs Governorate.” The same source added that US airstrikes continued to target Islamic State sites in Deir ez Zor Governorate overnight. A US official claimed that the attack was conducted using F-15 Eagle Jets, A-10 Thunderbolt ground-attack aircraft, and AH-64 Apache helicopters. Social media reports claimed that missiles were launched from several US bases in northeastern Syria, including the Al Shaddadi base in Hasakah Governorate. Al Arabiya’s sources claimed that the United States struck “70 ISIS targets in sites in central Syria.”

US President Donald Trump also issued a statement reaffirming that the strikes were targeting “ISIS strongholds in Syria, a place soaked in blood which has many problems.” Trump added that the Syrian government, led by former head of Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) and current Syrian President Ahmad al Sharaa, is “working very hard to bring greatness back to Syria” and is “fully in support” of the operation.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry also issued a statement extending “its condolences to the families of the Syrian and American security personnel who were killed in the terrorist attacks that took place in Palmyra and northern Syria.” The statement reiterated Syria’s “firm commitment to fighting the Islamic State.” A US official told CNN that since the December 13 attack, US forces and partner forces have carried out 10 operations that resulted in the killing or arrest of approximately 23 individuals. On December 14, Syria’s Ministry of Interior said that its units carried out an operation in Palmyra to arrest five suspects accused of involvement in the killing of US service members in “coordination with the General Intelligence Directorate and the International Coalition forces.”

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US counterterrorism partner of the United States since 2015, released a statement showing their “sincere appreciation to the American forces and the international coalition forces for the precise air and missile strikes that targeted the hideouts of the ISIS terrorist organization in Syria during the past hours.”

Ahmad Sharawi is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies focused on Iranian intervention in Arab affairs and the levant.