Frozen Middle East: Heavy snow hits the region - in pictures

Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Gaza and Iraq all feel the effects of the freezing weather

A snow-clad village in the Chouf district of Mount Lebanon governorate, about 52km south-east of Beirut. AFP

Cedar trees are blanketed in snow in Lebanon. AFP

A man walks in the snow in Erbil, Iraq. AP Photo

Snow fills the air in Erbil. AP Photo

Israel's border with Syria is covered with snow, near the Druze town of Masada. AFP

Syrians drive their cars on a street as snow falls over Damascus. AFP

A child removes snow from the top of a tent at a camp for internally displaced people in the northern Aleppo countryside, Syria. Reuters

A child stands in the snow in Salat Zagrous, a camp for internally displaced people, in northern Syria. EPA

A camp for internally displaced people in the town of Raju in the rebel-controlled northern countryside of Syria's Aleppo province. AFP

Children at a camp for internally displaced people in Raju have fun in the snow. AFP

A windy day in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP

Reindeer in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights. AFP

The Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. AFP

The Roman ruins at Baalbek in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. AFP

Snow-covered houses in the town of Sohmor, western Bekaa, Lebanon. Reuters

Amadiyah, a town built 1,400 metres above sea level and located about 75km north of the city of Dohuk, in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region. AFP

Snow-covered mountains around the town of Amadiyah. AFP

Iraqi Kurds perform a traditional dance near Safin Mountain, close to the city of Irbil, the capital of Iraq's northern Kurdish autonomous region. AFP

Israeli armored corps soldiers, fix their tank chains during snowstorm near the Israel-Syrian border in the annexed Golan Heights, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams. EPA

Children slide on the snow at the Kucukcekmece district in Istanbul. AFP

A child plays with a cat in a snowy park near of the Suleymaniye mosque in Istanbul. AFP

A young Syrian boy clears the snow covering a tent at a camp for internally displaced people, near the city of Jisr al-Shugur on the border with Turkey, in the Idlib governorate of northwestern Syria. AFP

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