Heavy snowfall, extreme weather conditions hit Israel

Some parts of Israel were covered with snow early Friday amid a heavy winter storm and extreme weather conditions.

Snow piled up to unusual heights of about 25 cm in Jerusalem, according to a statements by the municipality.

Highways to Jerusalem were shut down and residents of the city have been asked not to travel unnecessarily.

The municipality said 250 snow ploughs have been operating in order to keep the main roads in the city leading to the major hospitals open.

Most bus lines were suspended, aside from special lines, and schools were closed as well.

Israel's Home Front Command mobilized armored personnel carriers to Jerusalem and Safed in northern Israel in cases of emergency medical evacuations.

Magen David Adom (the Israeli Red Cross) announced it has dozens of special vehicles with snow chains and 125 jeeps prepared for urgent medical evacuations.

Also, northern Israeli towns were hit by snow like the upper Galilee region and villages surrounding Haifa, with municipalities instructing people to limit their movements.

School was out in Jerusalem and in the north due to the heavy snowfall.

No damage was reported so far as a result of the storm, which set in late Thursday. The Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) said that there were no problems of power supply as of early Friday.

Israel is not used to experiencing extreme cold weather, with the exclusion of several such storms taking place in the past two years, and its infrastructure is ill equipped to handle such weather conditions.

In December 2013, a heavy storm disrupted the citizens' daily lives as roads were blocked, power was out and no one could move in or out of the capital due to the snow-filled roads. Enditem