Haze over large swathes of the country has prompted the Environmental Protection Ministry to issue an air pollution warning on Tuesday.
While high levels of air pollution have been observed across the entire country, the ministry noted that the smog was particularly bad in the southern Negev and Arava regions, the southern coastal plain, the southern inner plains and some regions of the West Bank.
The ministry added that strong winds were expected to exacerbate the pollution by noon and later improve in the evening, accompanied by a drop in temperatures and a chance of local rains.
However, the environmental protection and health ministries recommended that vulnerable populations — such as heart patients, lung patients, elderly people, children and pregnant women — should avoid strenuous outdoor physical activity completely.
The general population should also limit time spent outdoors, both ministries stated.
On Wednesday, temperatures will drop drastically with occasional rains in the country's north and coastal areas.
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Dust storm blowing through the southern Negev region
(Photo: Israel Nature and Parks Authority
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Thursday will be cool and partly cloudy, but no precipitation is expected. The rain will resume again intermittently on Friday. Saturday, which is also the first night of the holiday of Passover, will be chilly and without rain.
Temperatures are expected to rise slightly during the holiday early next week and the weather will remainrelatively clement