Heavy rains close highways, hiking trails in south; effect on voter turnout unclear

Heavy rains poured down on southern Israel and parts of the center on Tuesday, cutting off the main entrance to the southernmost city of Eilat, amid a national election that had seen record-high turnout through mid-afternoon.

Downpours on the Negev and Aravah deserts, and eastward to the Judean Foothills and Dead Sea, prompted the closure of Route 90, which leads to Eilat. Traffic from the city was open only to Ramon International Airport, police said.

Route 12, which connects the city to the Eilat Mountains, was also closed, as were Route 13, from the Menuha Junction to the Tzihor Junction, and Route 40, from Mitzpe Ramon to Keturah Junction.

At one measuring station near Eilat, the Israel Meteorological Service reported 17 millimeters (0.7 inches) over 3 hours. The rains were expected to get stronger as the day wore on, and to continue into the night.

State agencies warned that driving or hiking during the rainfall was dangerous, as flash floods have proved fatal in the past.

The Israel Police ordered the closure of all hiking sites from Beersheba to Eilat, and called on the public to avoid any walking trails or streams.

A flash flood at Hatira Stream in the Negev on October 27, 2026. (Jamil Atrash/Israel Nature and Parks Authority)

Rains also fell in the center of the country, with thunderstorms hitting Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh, Modiin and Ramle in the late afternoon.

It was not immediately clear how the weather might disrupt voter turnout, which was at a record high with more than half of eligible voters casting ballots by 4 p.m., the most for that hour in the more than half-century that records have been kept.

Among those turning out in record numbers were Bedouin voters in the south, with the largest year-on-year surge in voter turnout as of noon found in the small community of al-Atawneh in the Negev, and the southern city of Rahat also seeing a particularly large increase compared to previous elections.