An Israeli man watches the smoke from the wildfires that hit Haifa, Israel earlier this month, killing 42 people and consuming some 12,000 acres. But Israel is not the only country in the Middle East that has experienced extreme weather in the last few months. All across the region, Middle Eastern cities have been the victim of floods, fires, and snow storms.
Israeli firefighters put out flames that destroyed a house in the village of Ein Hod, near the city of Haifa. On Dec 14, Israeli officials canceled a ceremony that was scheduled to honor Palestinian firefighters who helped put out the fire, after three of the firefighters were refused entry into Israel to attend the event.
A civilian helps hose off the remains of a burnt house in Ein Hod, during the worst forest fire in the country's existence. Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority were among those who offered aid.
An Israeli woman, holding the keys to her house, takes a photo of the flames overtaking Israel's Carmel Mountain. The fires displaced nearly 15,000 civilians and severely damaged 250 homes.
Last month's heavy rains in Saudi Arabia left pilgrims rushing through flooded streets in the holy city of Mecca during the Hajj. Nearly 2.8 million Muslims from all over the world participated in the pilgrimage this year.
Cars drive through a fog-covered Cairo in Egypt, where heavy sandstorms and gusts of wind have swept the country. A factory collapse in Alexandria, which was blamed on the bad weather, killed at least three people.
Two Lebanese men duck for cover as waves crash up against a wall in a promenade in the Lebanese city of Sidon.
Syrian teenagers build a snowman after a snow storm hit Damascus this week, after several months of drought. Syrian authorities also closed the port of Tartous due to high winds.
A massive storm hits the eastern Mediterranean, sending waves smashing into the port of Caesarea in Israel.
A man looks toward the Lebanese village of Fatri, north of Beirut, which was damaged by one of the 120 fires that broke out in the country earlier this month. Heavy rainfall eventually helped extinguish the fires.
