Israel’s Sole Ski Site Closes Following Missile Attack

Update: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in the U.K. has upped the death toll to "at least 21" were killed from the Israeli strikes on Sunday.

Israel’s sole ski site, the Mount Hermon ski resort located in the northern Golan Heights, was closed on Monday by order of the Israeli military. The Hermon opened for the season on Sunday, when several thousand of its skiers and visitors witnessed a missile fired by an Iron Dome battery successfully intercept a surface-to-surface missile launched towards Israel from Syria.

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On Sunday, the Israeli military started striking Iranian Quds targets in Syrian territory, the military’s spokesperson unit said in a statement referring to the elite branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. The targets included a military site located inside the Damascus International Airport, according to the statement. In response, a surface-to-surface missile was launched from Syrian territory, which was then intercepted mid-flight. No casualties were reported. The Israeli military tweeted a video filmed by skiers on Mount Hermon showing the missiles fired by an Iron Dome battery.

This is what’s been happening:
On Sunday, Iranian Quds Forces operating in Syria launched a surface-to-surface rocket from Syria aimed at Israel’s Golan Heights. The Iron Dome Aerial Defense System intercepted the rocket. pic.twitter.com/P7yvkpR6An

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) January 21, 2019

While the ski resort is closed for the day, no special instructions were given for other parts of the Golan Heights.

"This is an open confrontation with Iran. When we need to step it up, we'll step it up" Intelligence Minister Israel Katz said in an interview with Israeli Military Radio on Monday.

Unlike most of the strikes in Syria previously attributed to Israel, Sunday's attack took place during daylight. At the time of the strike, an Iranian plane belonging to the Iranian Mahan Airlines was about to land at the Damascus International Airport. The London-based independent pan-Arab newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi cited Syrian opposition sources as saying the Israeli strike was intended to deter the Iranian aircraft from landing in Damascus. The plane did not land in Damascus and re-routed back to Tehran. This was the only plane due to land at Damascus airport on Sunday, according to a report by Israeli right-wing broadcaster Channel 7 news.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said in a Sunday statement that the attack did not damage the airport and no casualties were reported. Russia has warned Israel that it would not tolerate more airstrikes near the Damascus International Airport, the Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper reported on Friday, previous to Sunday’s strike.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in the U.K., reported that 121 individuals have died from the Israeli strikes in Syria in early Monday, calling it “the most intense and violent attack against the regime forces and their allies in terms of casualties” since last spring.

The ski resort will re-open on Tuesday.

Update: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in the U.K. has upped the death toll to "at least 21" were killed from the Israeli strikes on Sunday. A previous version of this article reported 11 deaths.