In pictures: Snow blankets the Middle East Published duration 20 February 2015

A rare cold front swept through the middle east on Thursday and Friday, blanketing parts of Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon with snow.

Roads in and out of Jerusalem were closed and streets deserted in the Jordanian capital of Amman.

The snow covered large swathes of desert, and Jerusalem's famous western wall and Bethlehem's nativity church were sprinkled with white.

The Syrian capital Damascus and surrounding mountains also got snow, while a snowstorm in neighbouring Lebanon closed most mountain roads, isolating villages.

image copyright AFP image caption Palestinian children play in the snow in the village of Tuqu' near the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Friday.

image copyright European Photopress Agency image caption A Syrian refugee child clears snow in Istanbul, Turkey.

image copyright AFP image caption Snow covers the area around the Church of All Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane, east Jerusalem.

image copyright Getty Images image caption Snow blankets the ground either side of the separation barrier in Jerusalem.

image copyright AP image caption Palestinians cross a snow-blanketed street in the West Bank City of Nablus.

image copyright Getty Images image caption Jews pray by the snow-covered Western Wall in Jerusalem.

image copyright AFP image caption Syrian refugees walk in the snow a makeshift camp on the outskirts of Baalbek, Lebanon.