Image Credentials: Image Title: “Declaration of Vengeance”: US Launches Operation Hawkeye Strike in Syria Source: (sora.openai) Date: December 2025. Attribution: This image was created using AI-generated imagery (sora.openai) and does not depict a real-world scene.
Image: By Open Chronicle Staff with Agencies
In a massive display of “peace through strength,” the United States military launched Operation Hawkeye Strike on Friday, December 19, 2025. The large-scale air and ground campaign targeted over 70 Daesh (ISIS) positions across central Syria, marking the most significant U.S. military action in the region since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime a year ago.
The operation was a direct response to a deadly ambush on December 13 in the historic town of Palmyra. In that attack, a lone gunman, identified as a member of the Syrian security forces with Daesh sympathies, opened fire on a joint U.S.-Syrian patrol.
The ambush resulted in the deaths of:
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Two U.S. Army soldiers (identified as members of the Iowa National Guard).
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One American civilian interpreter.
Three other U.S. service members were wounded in the engagement. President Donald Trump, who welcomed the remains of the fallen home earlier this week, had promised “very serious retaliation,” describing the fallen as “great patriots.”
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the use of more than 100 precision munitions during the operation. The mission utilized a diverse array of high-end military hardware:
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Air Assets: F-15E Strike Eagles, A-10 Thunderbolt II “Warthogs,” and AH-64 Apache attack helicopters.
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Ground Support: HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems) launched strikes against hardened infrastructure.
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Regional Cooperation: F-16 fighter jets from the Royal Jordanian Air Force participated in the strikes, underscoring regional partnership against the terror group.
The targets included Daesh headquarters, weapons storage sites, and training camps in the rural areas of Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and the Jabal al-Amour mountains.
“Not a War, but Vengeance”
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (whose department was renamed from the Department of Defense in September 2025) issued a blistering statement regarding the operation on social media.
“This is not the beginning of a war—it is a declaration of vengeance,” Hegseth wrote. “If you target Americans, anywhere in the world, you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you.”
Hegseth emphasized that the mission’s goal was to “eliminate” the threat and prevent Daesh from regrouping in the power vacuum left by the previous regime.
In a notable shift from previous years, the strikes were carried out with the full support of the new Syrian government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The Syrian Foreign Ministry stated that the operation was fully coordinated and underscores the “urgent necessity of international cooperation to combat terrorism.”
This cooperation marks a milestone in U.S.-Syrian relations, as the post-Assad administration seeks to stabilize the country and prevent the resurgence of extremist safe havens.