The U.S. military launched retaliatory strikes on Friday against ISIS targets in Syria, according to a statement issued by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on social media.
Hegseth said “Operation Hawkeye Strike” was carried out in Syria “to eliminate ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites in direct response to the attack on U.S. forces that occurred on Dec. 13 in Palmyra, Syria.
A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle prepares to land at Kadena AB, Japan, Aug. 4, 2025.
Staff Sgt. Dwane R. Young/USAF
“This is not the beginning of a war — It is a declaration of vengeance,” said Hegseth. “The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listens during an event at the State Department, Dec. 8, 2025, in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
The strikes in Syria are in retaliation for the deaths on Saturday of three Americans in Palmyra, Syria, by what CENTCOM said was a lone ISIS gunman who was later killed.
Reports from inside Syria including the monitoring agency the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that explosions had been heard in areas of the country.
The three fatalities included two Iowa National Guardsmen and a U.S. civilian interpreter, three other Iowa National Guardsmen were injured in the attack.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after stepping off Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, December 17, 2025 upon return from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Later on Saturday, President Donald Trump told reporters that the U.S. would be retaliating against ISIS for the attack.
The following day he said that “in Syria there will be a lot of damage done to the people that did it.”
Friday’s large-scale retaliatory strikes involved fighter jets, attack helicopters and the use of artillery, according to a U.S. official, who said U.S. forces were targeting “dozens upon dozens” of ISIS weapon areas and infrastructure in central Syria.
The official added that the retaliatory strikes were intended to deliver “a significant blow” to ISIS remnant forces in Syria, their infrastructure and eliminating ISIS weapons areas.
In this Jan. 9, 2025, file photo, US forces patrol in Syria’s northeastern city Qamishli, in the Hasakeh province.
Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
There are currently 1,000 U.S. troops in Syria, the bulk of them located in eastern Syria, with the continuing mission prevent a resurgence of ISIS which was defeated militarily in 2019.
Between 100 to 150 of the U.S. troops in Syria are based at At Tanq Garrison, a remote outpost located on Syria’s border with Jordan. The Iowa National Guardsmen targeted in Saturday’s attack were based at that outpost, which was visited on Friday by Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command, according to a source familiar with the visit.
President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth salute as members of the military carry transfer cases of the remains of Iowa National Guard members killed in Syria, Sgt. Edgar Torres Tovar and Sgt. William Howard at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, Dec. 17, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
The Iowa National Guardsmen targeted in Saturday’s attack were based at that outpost, which was visited on Friday by Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command, according to a source familiar with the visit.
Sgt. William “Nate” Howard, Sgt. Edgar Torres Tovar, and their U.S. civilian interpreter, Ayad Mansoor Sakat, were killed in an ambush by a lone ISIS gunman on Saturday as they were carrying out a key leader engagement, according to a CENTCOM statement.
They were the first U.S. military combat deaths in Syria since 2019.