Stormy Middle East: winds and rain whip across the region

From Cairo to Mosul via Gaza and Beirut, the region is being buffeted by cold winds, rain and snow

epa08205408 A man looks at university degrees placed by Lebanese unemployed graduates on the concrete wall which was set up by Lebanese police to block a road leading to the Government palace in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, 09 February 2020. According to media reports, the number of unemployed Lebanese has now reached around 200,000 since October, 60,000 of whom lost their jobs since the end of November 2019. Unemployment has increased dramatically in the past few months with a deteriorating economic situation, and not only among the youth. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

A Palestinian man and child ride a donkey-drawn cart amidst heavy rain in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 9, 2020. / AFP / Said KHATIB

A Palestinian child rides a bicycle along a flooded street following heavy rain in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 9, 2020. / AFP / Said KHATIB

epa08205391 A man removes snow from the roof of his car after heavy snowfall in the village of Hammana southeast Beirut, Lebanon, 09 February 2020. According to the Lebanese meteorology, Lebanon has been affected by a rainstorm for several days, as snow-covered most mountain villages with a steep drop in temperature. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

epa08205390 Snow covers the village of Hammana southeast Beirut, Lebanon, 09 February 2020. According to the Lebanese meteorology, Lebanon has been affected by a rainstorm for several days, as snow-covered most mountain villages with a steep drop in temperature. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

Stray cats search for food during a snowy day in Istanbul on February 8, 2020. / AFP / Ozan KOSE

A woman walks past hanging laundry lines between tents at a flooded camp for displaced Syrians near the village of Killi in the north of the northwestern Idlib province on February 8, 2020. / AFP / AAREF WATAD

TOPSHOT - A man takes a picture with a camera while standing atop the roof of a building in a deserted area of the town of Ariha, about 13 kilometres south of Idlib in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province on February 7, 2020, after most residents fled due to bombardment by approaching government forces. / AFP / AAREF WATAD

Palestinian fishermen ride their boat amid high waves on windy and rainy day at the sea in Gaza City, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

A man takes a dip in the Mediterranean Sea in stormy weather in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Winter weather is sweeping across the region bringing with it stormy seas, rain and even snow.

The Lebanese mountains are inundated with snow – good news for the country's small skiing industry but the number of visitors is still down amid the worst economic crisis in decades and a mass, nationwide protest movement.
Several ski resorts have slashed prices in a bid to attract crowds from the capital at the weekends but the slopes are far from full.

On the streets of Beirut, protesters are still pushing their demands for government accountability and an administration that can tackle years of chronic mismanagement and corruption despite heavy rain. In a protest at high levels of unemployment, university graduates plastered their degree certificates to the concrete blast walls that police have placed around parliament in a bid to stop protesters blocking politicians attending sessions.

Mosul, in northern Iraq, also had light snow overnight on Sunday as freezing temperatures gripped a city still largely in ruins after the bloody fight to eradicate ISIS ended in 2017. Life is returning to the city but rebuilding it will take years.

On the eastern Mediterranean, Gaza’s fishermen braved the choppy seas to search for a catch.

In the impoverished enclave struggling under Israel's blockade, fishermen are barred from travelling far from the coastline. Israeli gunboats enforce the blockade and regularly open fire on the trawlers as they gather nets near the boundary. When clashes flare up between the enclave's ruling Hamas and Israel, the military cut the fishing zone down to only a few kilometres, further hampering the industry that is a lifeline to many of its more than a million inhabitants.

In Syria, displaced refugees have found themselves seeking shelter in water-and-mud-clogged tents near the closed Turkish border as they look for safety amid an intense regime bombardment and offensive to recapture the last rebel-held bastion.