U.S. Central Command struck more than 50 ISIS targets, including infrastructure and weapons sites, in multiple locations across central Syria such as Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and Palmyra over the past two hours ending at 11:16 PM UTC on December 19, 2025, following President Trump's order after the December 13 attack near Palmyra that killed three Americans, a senior U.S. official told Fox News. A U.S. official told ABC News' Nick Schifrin that the strikes, described as the largest in Syria in years, involved F-15s, F-16s, A-10s, AH-64E Apaches, and HIMARS against dozens of targets to degrade ISIS capabilities, with intelligence from 10 partnered ground operations since December 13 that killed or detained two dozen ISIS figures, including Syrian government assistance. The operation responds to the deaths of Sgt. William Nathaniel "Nate" Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, Sgt. Edgar Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, both Iowa National Guard, and interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat of Michigan, whose remains returned December 17 at Dover Air Force Base, per the Fox report; CENTCOM is reviewing the gunman's ties after the attack during a U.S.-Syrian meeting. These strikes build on U.S. Central Command's announcement earlier at 10:46 PM UTC of Operation Hawkeye Strike's commencement using F-15E Strike Eagles, A-10C Thunderbolt IIs, Apaches, and HIMARS against ISIS in northern and central Syria, including Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, Secretary of War stated in response to the Palmyra incident.
