
A deadly sandstorm has engulfed part of the Middle East - killing at least eight people including two children and causing thousands to suffer breathing problems.

Large parts of Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and Cyprus were shrouded in a thick cloud of dust from the storm that began sweeping into the region on Monday.

In Syria today, government warplanes and helicopters carried out fewer strikes as a result, but at least six people died across the country from respiratory failure, a monitor said.

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Limited visibility: The sandstorm engulfed Lebanon's capital city, Beirut, as it swept across the Middle East today, killing eight people

Protection: A man wearing a mask cycles through downtown Jerusalem as the deadly sandstorm engulfed swathes of the Middle East

Syrian children walk through the dust during a sandstorm at a refugee camp on the outskirts of the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek

Nothing to see: People look bemused as the sandstorm blocks visionm in downtown Jerusalem during unusual weather in Israel

Syria's state-run news agency SANA said three people in the central Hama province died from the sandstorm and there were more than 3,500 cases of people with breathing difficulties across several provinces.

'There were four (killed) in Deir Ezzor, including a child and an elderly woman, as well as another child in Hama province and a person in Daraa,' Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

In the Syrian capital, Damascus, the head of a major hospital, Adeeb Mahmoud, said more than 1,200 people, including 100 children, had been treated for breathing problems.

Lebanon's health ministry said two women had died at hospitals in the eastern Bekaa Valley region because of the storm, without specifying their nationality.

'The number of cases of choking and shortness of breath caused by the sandstorm has risen to 750,' the ministry said.

Police distributed face masks on city streets as authorities warned people suffering from health problems, the elderly and pregnant women to stay indoors.

Dust: Damaged buildings are pictured during a sandstorm in the Douma neighbourhood of Damascus, Syria on Tuesday September 8

People cross a street as a sandstorm shrouds Damascus, Syria. Government warplanes and helicopters carried out fewer strikes as a result of the reduced visibility

A man walks on the rocky coastal area in Beirut, Lebanon. Two women have died at hospitals in the country because of the storm

A Syrian worker looks down from the rooftop of a high-rise tower under construction, as a sandstorm shrouds the coastal capital of Beirut

The storm was felt particularly in Lebanon's dozens of informal camps where hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees live with limited shelter.

Education Minister Elias Bou Saab ordered private schools across the country to close on Wednesday, calling on 'school officials to respect this decision and to protect students from any danger', a ministry statement said.

Mouin Hamzeh, secretary general of Lebanon's governmental National Council for Scientific Research, said satellite images 'clearly show that the sandstorm came from northern Iraq in the direction of central and northern Lebanon, north and east Syria, and southern Turkey'.

'It usually happens twice or even three times a year in Lebanon but during spring, March and April, and the unusual thing today is the density of the storm,' he said.

Minarets and a church tower in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, pictured as the sandstorm engulfed part of the Middle East today

Cars drive on Dbayeh Highway, north of Beirut in Lebanon, as a sandstorm blows over the capital city on Tuesday September 8

Police distributed face masks on city streets in Lebanon as authorities warned people suffering from health problems, the elderly and pregnant women to stay indoors

A Syrian refugee covers her face to protect herself from the dust during a sandstorm at a refugee camp near the Bekaa Valley village of Taalabaya

Ships can usually be seen for miles off the coast of Gaza but onlookers can barely see these ships beyond the shore, with the background shrouded in mist

These Palestinian men take a selfie at Gaza city with the unusually orange conditions engulfing the area during the storm

In the Syrian city of Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor, several hospitals were no longer receiving patients suffering respiratory problems after running out of oxygen tanks, the observatory said.

Syria's health minister urged citizens to 'avoid prolonged exposure to the outdoors', and said hundreds of people had been treated for asthma and other respiratory problems.

Mansour, a Damascus resident, who gave only his first name, said: 'It is unbelievable. This must be some test.

'It's hot. Temperatures are high and above that we have this dusty weather. It is something beyond reasonable. Enough please,' he added.

The dust cut visibility for regime aircraft, which carried out relatively few strikes during the storm, the observatory said.

A thick haze hung over Jerusalem and much of Israel and the Palestinian Territories, with officials warning the vulnerable to stay indoors.

Lebanon's health ministry said two women had died at hospitals in the eastern Bekaa Valley region because of the monster sandstorm

Satellite images show that the sandstorm came from northern Iraq in the direction of central and northern Lebanon, north and east Syria, and southern Turkey

People pictured on a scooter in Lebanon wear facemasks to protect themselves from the dust while driving in downtown Beirut

The view from the Mount of Olives - normally a sweeping panorama of Jerusalem's Old City and the Al-Aqsa mosque compound with its golden Dome of the Rock - was completely obscured by the dust.

The thick cloud also enveloped parts of the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, where residents were told to limit their time outdoors.

Health officials warned that the concentration of dust particles in the air was many times above normal levels.

Several flights were diverted from the coastal airport of Larnaca as visibility dropped to 500 metres, although flights began arriving again as scheduled later today.

A sandstorm, which has engulfed part of the Middle East - killing at least eight people - shrouds the Gaza strip on Tuesday September 8

There was limited visibility in Gaza when the sandstorm hit part of the Middle East and caused hundreds to suffer breathing problems

Tourists cover their faces while visiting the Mount of Olives Promenade in the Old City of Jerusalem during as sandstorm on September 8

Pedestrians walk near the Tower of David in Jerusalem's Old City during a monster sandstorm on Tuesday September 8

A man wearing a face mask walks on a street during a sandstorm in downtown Amman, Jordan, where several schools have been shut

Palestinian girls take a selfie as they sit off the coast of Gaza city, recording a memory of the odd conditions in the background

The Israeli Environment Ministry warned of the health repercussions of the storm, stretching from northern Israel, Galilee, to central areas, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv

A Lebanese jogger runs despite the dust on the Corniche seaside promenade in downtown Beirut as a sandstorm blows over the Lebanese capital

Cyprus was also suffering from a heatwave, with inland temperatures hitting 41C.

Its interior ministry said dozens of Syrian refugees who had been rescued from a fishing boat off the coast on Sunday had been moved from a makeshift camp to a better-equipped facility because of the extreme weather.

The effects of the storm also reached Cairo, where the skyline was obscured by a thick haze.

Wahid Saudi, a top official at Egypt's weather authority, said the dust had blown in from the eastern Mediterranean region and was expected to clear after several hours.

In Jordan, schools shut down or cut their days short.

Lebanese authorities also warned residents against burning trash that has piled up on Beirut streets this summer, sparking a political crisis and daily protests.

Lucien Bourjeili, one of the protest organizers, said the bad weather may prevent some people from taking to the streets in a major protest planned Wednesday, though 'this movement doesn't depend on the weather ... or one day.'

A view of the Roman ruins in city of Baalbeck in the Bekaa valley in Lebanon which can barely be seen after the sandstorm