Intel: What’s behind the escalation between Iran and Israel in Syria

The Mount Hermon resort in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights was operating at capacity when skiers noticed two smoke trails in the sky. Soon they converged into a bright flash as Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted a surface-to-surface missile headed toward the slopes, the first time Iranian forces in Syria are accused of targeting civilian population centers.

Why it matters: Israeli intelligence sources wasted no time blaming Sunday’s foiled attack on Iranian militias. The missile was probably itself fired in reaction to an Israeli attack against an Iranian base near Damascus airport last week. The Israelis responded with a large-scale air attack Monday night against a dozen targets, half of them Iranian Quds Force sites and the other Syrian army air defense batteries. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 12 Iranians and four Syrian soldiers were killed.