Syrian Desert campaign (December 2017–present) Part of the Syrian Civil War and Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War Date 16 December 2017 – present (1 year, 5 months, 1 week and 3 days) Location Syrian Desert (eastern Homs Governorate & western Deir ez-Zor Governorate) Status Ongoing ISIL maintains a 4,000 square kilometer pocket,[1] which includes the Doubayat gas field[2] Belligerents Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Syria Russia Iran Hezbollah Iraq Popular Mobilization Forces[3] Palestine Liberation Army[4] Liwa al-Quds[4] Strength 1,000 (as of Aug. 2018)[5] 300 reinforcements (Feb.