Thousands of Israelis visited the Mount Hermon ski resort in northern Israel Saturday, one day after Hizbullah fired
at IDF outposts on Israel's northern border.
The sounds of the bombardment were widely heard also at the Hermon resort. The attack began shortly before the site's closing hours, and therefore there was no need to evacuate many visitors.
Menachem Baruch, the resort's manager, said Saturday that "we are in close contact with the army, and right now there is no reason why visitors should not come and visit the great number of attractions that the Hermon has to offer."
"The thousands of visitors this morning prove that routine has won," he added.
Some 6,500 visitors arrived at the resort by Saturday afternoon, while thousands more visited tourism sites in northern Israel.
Hizbullah has been launching attacks at IDF outposts in the Mount Dov area, near the Hermon resort, ever since the Israeli army withdrew from Lebanon on May 2000. In the winter of 2003, the resort managers were forced to shut it down for two days after mortar bombs landed nearby.
Referring to Friday's strike, a senior IDF officer told Ynet Saturday that "it is difficult to say that this story is behind us. We will have to wait another day or two to see what happens."
'We spotted two people with sheep'
A high-ranking Northern Command officer told Ynet that the ceasefire on Friday was made possible after Lebanon relayed a request to Israel through the United Nations Friday, asking the country to halt strikes on southern Lebanon.
Israel complied with the request and the attacks were consequently suspended.
The Northern Command maintained high alert Saturday for fear that Hizbullah would resume its fire.
On Friday, IDF officials rejected out of hand claims that soldiers fired at a shepherd during the week, and said that the man was armed.
The officials claimed that the man had crossed the border from Lebanon into Israel and was trying to gather intelligence information on IDF operations together with his friend, who was carrying binoculars and a notebook.
"We have encountered quite a few situations in which terrorists are disguised as shepherds. For example, we spotted two people with three sheep, and it is obvious that they are not innocent people," a Northern Command official explained.
Hagai Einav contributed to the report
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