The United States said it carried out “massive strikes” on alleged ISIL targets in central Syria, hours after Interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa celebrated what he called on Friday “first day without sanctions.”
The US struck multiple targets in Syria late on Friday that the US military tied to ISIL, (also called ISIS\ IS\ Daesh) Takfiri terrorist group, as retaliation for the recent attack that killed two American service members in Palmyra on December 13, the CNN quoted two US officials as saying.
“I am hereby announcing that the United States is inflicting very serious retaliation, just as I promised, on the murderous terrorists responsible,” President Donald Trump later wrote on Truth Social.
Roughly 70 targets were hit in the operation, the two US officials said.
Trump administration claims 70+ ISIS targets in Syria last night with 100+ precision munitions in joint U.S.-Jordanian strikes. pic.twitter.com/c3M8EsXxjA
— Baxtiyar Goran ☀️ (@BaxtiyarGoran) December 20, 2025
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the strikes a “declaration of vengeance,” in a post on X.
“This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” he wrote. “The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people.”
Earlier on Friday, Syria’s Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa declared what he described as a historic turning point for his country, announcing the formal end of Caesar Act sanctions and proclaiming Friday, as “the first day of a Syria without sanctions.”
In a broadcast speech delivered near Damascus, al-Sharaa congratulated the Syrian people and framed the lifting of sanctions as the “culmination of 14 years of patience, steadfastness, calm, and sacrifice.”
“Today, Friday, is the first day of a Syria without international sanctions and blockades,” he said, noting that the country was entering “a new phase of reconstruction and development.”
⚡️Syrian President Ahmed Sharaa:
– Today, Syria enters its first day free from sanctions, by the permission of God.
– First, thanks to the grace of the Almighty God and then to your generosity and the patience you have shown for fourteen years…
– I extend my most sincere… pic.twitter.com/3hqcUGfRME
— War Intel (@warintel4u) December 19, 2025
Source: Agencies (translated and edited by Al-Manar)