In pictures: Heatwave hits the Middle East

Gaza: A Palestinian girl swims in a swimming pool to cool down amid a heatwave in Khan Younis on 17 July 2023 (Reuters). Main image: Iraq: Security forces stand guard at a demonstration against water scarcity and power outages in Baghdad, on 18 July 2023 (AFP)

Libya: Migrants from sub-Saharan African countries, who say they were abandoned in the desert by Tunisian authorities, shield themselves from the heat in an uninhabited area near the border town of Al-Assah on 16 July 2023 (AFP)

West Bank: Palestinians cool off in al-Oja springs near Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on 18 July 18, 2023 (Reuters).

Lebanon: A fire blazes on a hillside in the southern town of Ibl al-Saqi on 14 July 2023 (AFP)

Tunisia: Swimmers dive into the Khaireddine Canal near Tunis on 17 July 2023 (AFP)

Gaza: A Palestinian woman sits in her home amid a heatwave and lengthy power cuts at Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on 17 July 2023 (Reuters)

Cyprus: A man shelters from the sun with an umbrella during a heatwave in Nicosia on 15 July 2023 (Reuters)

Iraq: A farmer in Mosul shows the damage caused by a heatwave to crops on 15 July 2023 (Reuters)

Egypt: Smoke billows from a factory chimney along the Cairo-Alexandria highway during sunrise amid a heatwave on 14 July 2023 (Reuters)

Israel: A lion eats a block of ice containing meat and ostrich eggs to cool down during a heatwave at the Safari Zoological Centre in Ramat Gan, Israel, on 13 July 2023 (Reuters)

Turkey: Bathers cool off by the sea as a heatwave hits Istanbul, Turkey on 13 July 2023 (Anadolu/Reuters)