Rare snow blankets Middle East

An armed Jewish settler walks in the West Bank Jewish outpost of Givat Asaf, north of the Palestinian city of Ramallah. A blustery storm, dubbed Alexa, has brought gusty winds, torrential rains and heavy snowfall to parts of the Middle East.  (Ariel Schalit / Associated Press)

A blanket of snow covers the northern West Bank city of Nablus.   (Jaafar Ashtiyeh / AFP/Getty Images)

A Syrian child waits outside a tent in a refugee camp in the town of Arsal in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.  (AFP/Getty Images)

Syrians eat lunch at their refugee camp in the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal. Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees living in tents, shacks and unfinished buildings throughout Lebanon face a miserable winter as aid organizations scramble to meet their needs.  (Bilal Hussein / Associated Press)

Dark clouds over Gaza City on Friday. Early snow has surprised many Israelis and Palestinians as a blustery storm, dubbed Alexa, brought gusty winds, torrential rains and heavy snowfall to parts of the Middle East.  (Hatem Moussa / Associated Press)

Snow falls as ultra-Orthodox Jews walk past the Damascus gate outside Jerusalem’s Old City.   (Uriel Sinai / Getty Images)

Israeli Arabs throw snowballs as the Dome of the Rock at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound shines in the background.  (Uriel Sinai / Getty Images)

Israeli soldiers patrol in the snowy city center of the West Bank town of Hebron.  (Hazem Bader / AFP/Getty Images)

Israelis encircle a snowman as they enjoy the snow in Jerusalem.  (Menahem Kahana / AFP/Getty Images)

Falling show nearly obscures men waiting for a bus in Jerusalem.  (Menahem Kahana / AFP/Getty Images)

Palestinians play near the Damascus gate outside Jerusalem’s Old City.  (Uriel Sinai / Getty Images)

People walk in the snow in Jerusalem.  (Uriel Sinai / Getty Images)

Palestinian women enjoy the snow outside Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.  (Mahmoud Illean / Associated Press)

Snow falls on Manger Square, with the Church of the Nativity in the background, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.  (Musa Al-Shaer / AFP/Getty Images)

A Palestinian woman takes pictures with her phone of the snowfall in the West Bank city of Ramallah.  (Abbas Momani / AFP/Getty Images)

A Palestinian man holds national and Fatah party flags as he makes a “slush angel” in a half-frozen fountain in the West Bank town of Hebron.  (Hazem Bader / AFP/Getty Images)

A Syrian man walks in the snow in Istanbul, Turkey. A bruising winter storm brought severe weather to the region, forcing the closure of roads and schools and blanketing already-miserable Syrian refugee camps with snow.  (Bulent Kilic / AFP/Getty Images)

Jordanians play in a field during a snowstorm in Amman.  (Mohammad Hannon / Associated Press)