A snowstorm overwhelming the Middle East region since Tuesday has so far left four people, including three infants, dead in the Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry said.

"Severe cold led to the death of four people on Friday and Saturday," the Health Ministry added in a statement.

It said the victims lived at the site of homes previously destroyed by Israel during its latest 51-day offensive on the Gaza Strip.

The ministry said one of the dead infants was four months old, while another was three months old and the third was one-month old.

It added that the fourth victim was 22 years old and that he died in southern the Gaza Strip.

A severe snowstorm has been hitting several Middle Eastern countries since Tuesday, giving millions of people tough weather conditions in the region.

Gaza civil defense spokesman, Mohamed al-Medana, meanwhile, said tens of homes were submerged with water as a result of bad weather conditions.

He added that civil defense teams had managed to rescue 152 families in southern Gaza after their homes were submerged with rainwater.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Palestinian policeman directs traffic as snow falls in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday, Jan. 9, 2015.

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