Refugees at risk as two die in Lebanon snowstorm
The lives of Syrian and Palestinian refugees are at risk as snow and storms grip the region. At least two are already dead
UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers shovel snow off the road leading to village of Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon as a heavy storm hits the region 7 Jan (AFP)
Published date: 13 February 2015 08:30 GMT
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Last update: 9 years 9 months ago
A Syrian man and young boy died in cold weather in Lebanon as a major storm dumped rare snow on parts of the Middle East Wednesday, bringing misery to thousands of Syrian refugees.
The local Red Cross agency said the bodies of the two Syrians, including the six-year-old boy, were found dead in the Shebaa region of south Lebanon.
A security source told AFP the dead were Syrian refugees who had been crossing the mountainous border between Syria and Lebanon, where temperatures fell as low as minus 7 degrees Celsius (20 Fahrenheit).
Their deaths came as a major storm struck the Middle East, hitting Syrian refugees living in makeshift camps throughout Lebanon and disrupting schools and roads in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
Many refugees in Lebanon were trapped in their tents by the heavy rain and snow, struggling to stay warm in temperatures hovering around zero degrees.
The UN's refugee agency distributed cash and fuel coupons to more than 80,000 refugee families ahead of the storm, which forced the closure of all Lebanese ports and briefly shut Beirut's international airport.
It warned however that "serious gaps" remained in provisions for the refugees during the storm.
In Majdalun, close to the eastern town of Baalbek, around 40 tents were cut off from surrounding villages by a thick layer of snow, an AFP photographer said.
"There is a lack of food and heating materials," said one man who had left his tent.
"We ask charities to intervene. We are scared that the tents will collapse under the weight of the snow."
Heavy snowfall also cut several roads in mountainous areas of Lebanon, where more than a million Syrians fleeing civil war have claimed refuge.
"I've been a refugee here for two years but this is the worst winter I've seen," said Mohammad al-Hussein, who lives in an east Lebanon camp with his wife and five children.
"We feel humiliated," he added.
The influx of more than 1.1 million refugees has tested Lebanon's limited resources, and this week the government began imposing unprecedented visa restrictions on Syrians in a bid to stem the number of arrivals.
Schools closed
In Israel and the Palestinian Territories, hundreds of schools were closed.
Across Jerusalem, the streets were largely deserted and few people ventured out to brave the high winds and intermittent rain, AFP correspondents said.
Ahead of the storm, the education ministry announced the closure of schools across Jerusalem and the surrounding area, as well as in Jewish settlements throughout the occupied West Bank and much of northern Israel.
In 2013, a major snowstorm hit the region, shutting down the country for days, leaving cars stranded and tens of thousands without electricity.
In Jerusalem, a fleet of 150 vehicles was readied to clear the snow, with 200 tonnes of salt, food, blankets and emergency generators also on hand.
The army's Home Front command has also brought in armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers to help with rescue efforts.
Streets across the West Bank city of Ramallah, which stands at 2,861 feet (872 metres) above sea level, were also deserted as people hunkered down ahead of the storm, an AFP correspondent said.
Syria, Egypt affected
The impoverished Gaza Strip, which lived through a 50-day war with Israel during the summer, also battened down the hatches.
The normally jammed streets of Gaza City were largely empty and many shops were closed.
Tens of thousands of Gazans who had their homes destroyed in the 50-day war are still without permanent shelter and the UN distributed extra food and generators to try to ease the chronic electricity shortages.
In Syria, schools were closed and many government officials were unable to make their way to work through the snowy streets of Damascus.
The state SANA news agency said snow and rain fell Wednesday in most provinces in the war-ravaged nation.
In Egypt, authorities shut ports in Alexandria and on the Red Sea coast due to the weather.
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