Dust Storm Envelops Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Gaza marina enveloped in dust this afternoon. Photograph shared by  @shawajason on Twitter
A huge dust storm is passing through the Western part of the Middle East today and tomorrow, reducing visibility in some countries and sending people to hospital for treatment from respiratory diseases in others. The dust frenzy covers Lebanon, where at least five people were killed and 750 treated in hospital for asphyxiation, Syria, Palestine, Israel, Jordan and parts of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Turkey and Cyprus. The storm, photographs of which are being shared far and wide on social media is rare in this part of the Middle East, which doesn't usually get this phenomenon, more common in Saudi Arabia.
Here is a snap shot of some of the photographs shared of the dust storm.
Jordan:
In Jordan, the United Nations Refugees Agency (UNHCR) shares this photograph from the Zaatari Refugee Camp, home to some 80,000 Syrian refugees escaping the war in their country:
Terrible weather in #Zaatari today. Nine main clinics+hospital are providing nebuliser treatment & masks to refugees pic.twitter.com/DEaYYoCjvQ
— Za'atari Camp (@ZaatariCamp) September 8, 2015
Lebanon:
Syrian refugees in Lebanon are not faring any better. Khaled Kabbara, UNHCR external relations associate, shares those photographs showing their dismal conditions:
Massive sandstorm hits North #Lebanon, affecting refugees already living in challenging conditions. pic.twitter.com/l0nLCO2SFT
— Khaled Kabbara (@khaled_kabbara) September 8, 2015
60 yrs. old Khodr covering his face from dust, he is one of many Syrian refugees affected by the sandstorm #Lebanon pic.twitter.com/HzlC7U81bO
— Khaled Kabbara (@khaled_kabbara) September 8, 2015
Alex Thomson shares this video on Twitter of the storm engulfing Beirut, saying that “the people of Beirut say they can't remember seeing anything like it before in living memory”:
Look what blew in from Syria pic.twitter.com/g0aSyXDTPC
— alex thomson (@alextomo) September 8, 2015
Syria
BBC reporter Jeremy Bowen, who is currently reporting from Syria, has been posting weather updates on his Twitter account since the start of the storm yesterday.
Big sandstorm across #Syria pic.twitter.com/hJGt1LMf2J
— Jeremy Bowen (@BowenBBC) September 7, 2015
This morning, he asks:
Where's #Damascus gone? The huge Middle East dust storm continues. #Syria pic.twitter.com/tBBHWfJlWX
— Jeremy Bowen (@BowenBBC) September 8, 2015
Egypt:
Samer Al-Atrush shares this photograph from Cairo:
Central Cairo blanketed by dust pic.twitter.com/ntIK4huQgK
— Samer Al-Atrush  (@SameralAtrush) September 8, 2015
Israel:
And this photograph is shared by @ygurvitz of Tel Aviv at midday today:
ללא פילטר. pic.twitter.com/JBMYA6YbbM
— ygurvitz (@ygurvitz) September 8, 2015
NASA Photographs:
Geomorphologist Rob Bryant, from Sheffield, UK, shares those NASA photographs on Twitter:
Last few days have been seriously dusty in #syria #jordan and #Israel #modis Aqua data from 7 and 8 September #dust pic.twitter.com/7pA38QMvIU
— Rob Bryant (@sheffield_dust) September 8, 2015
The storm is expected to continue tomorrow (Wednesday, September 9).