In Syria, the guns fell silent as snow fell in the cities of Damascus and Aleppo and government warplanes
remained on the ground because of bad visibility.

The storm dumped rain and hail on Lebanon’s coast and heavy snows in the mountains and central Bekaa
Valley. Gas stations, schools, banks and shops shuttered and power was cut throughout Lebanon, but it
was particularly trying for the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who live in tents and makeshift
shelters.

In eastern Lebanon, security officials said a Syrian shepherd, Ammar Kamel, 30, and a 7-year-old boy,
Majed Badawi, died in the storm Wednesday as they made the dangerous trek through the rugged,
snow-covered mountains from Syria to the Lebanese border town of Chebaa. The officials spoke on
condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Near the town of Anjar, on the border with Syria, refugees used brooms and sticks to try to clear heavy
snow from the tops of their tents, fearing the shelters would collapse. Inside, adults huddled around
wood-burning stoves to try to keep warm.

In Beirut’s slum of Shatila, residents waded through dirty water and floating garbage that clogged the
narrow alleys while children played, trying to catch hail.

Ibtisam Mohammed, a 37-year-old mother of seven, managed to get her rusting diesel stove working again on
Wednesday, in an effort to warm her home. The wind had ripped away the plastic sheet used for windows
and water dripped on the floor from the tin roof.

"We dragged the mattress to that corner, it’s the only dry place in the house," she said,
adding she hoped the cold wouldn’t make her sicker — she has throat cancer and relies on charity for
medical care.

Nearby, Abu Hussein, 32, huddled under blankets in his tiny one-room home with his two children.
"This is how we keep warm," he laughed.

Elsewhere, Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip declared a state of emergency over the
storm. An eight-month-old Palestinian infant in the Tulkarem refugee camp died in a fire caused by a
heating stove, said Palestinian civil defense ministry spokesman Louay Bani Odeh.

Snow also accumulated in the Golan Heights and northern Israel. Jerusalem schools closed ahead of a
forecast warning of 10 inches (25 centimeters) of snowfall. The weather dominated Israeli media
newscasts as snow fell in repeated bursts in Jerusalem, with media promising more snowfall later.

Israeli police closed roads in the country’s north as Jerusalem city officials directed snow preparations
from a "war room" in a bunker underneath city hall, and deployed about 150 snowplows. The
military readied armored personnel carriers to help the police.

A downtown supermarket said it stored up on five times the amount of provisions, and employees were to
spend the night at the store because of road closures.

In Egypt, a sandstorm engulfed Cairo for a second day, followed by a brief rainfall Wednesday while in
the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, gusty winds toppled a minaret. The state MENA news agency
reported no casualties, adding that the mosque was subsequently shut down for repair work.

In Syria, snow blanketed Qassioun Mountain, which overlooks the capital, Damascus. The snowfall also
brought traffic to a near standstill in the city and the Education Ministry shuttered schools and
universities for two days.

Heavy fog also blanketed parts of Pakistan on Wednesday morning. Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority said
officials temporarily closed Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto International Airport due to bad weather,
diverting incoming flights to Lahore.

In Amman, Royal Jordanian cancelled some of its Thursday and Friday flights due to bad weather, including
those to Iraq, Tel Aviv, Dubai, Riyadh and Cairo.

Some found joy amid the stormy weather. Abdul-Hamid Ayash, a 32-year-old trader stranded in Beirut after
snows closed the route to his mountain home, smoked a cigarette by the sea, watching waves crash against
concrete breakers.

"I’m not sorry I’m stuck here," he said. "Is there anything nicer than walking in the
rain?"

___

Hadid reported from Beirut.

Associated Press writers contributing to this report include Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank;
Fares Akram in Gaza City, Gaza Strip; Daniel Estrin and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem; Ryan Lucas in Beirut;
Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria; Merrit Kennedy in Cairo; Omar Akour in Amman, Jordan, and Rebecca Santana
in Islamabad.

___

Follow Hussein Malla on Twitter at www.twitter.com/hmalla72 and Diaa Hadid on
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