In pictures: Locusts swarm Israeli desert

ISRAELI farmers faced devastation of their crops as authorities battled a swarm of locusts from Egypt near the border between the two countries.

Locusts darkened the skies in the days leading up the Jewish Passover holiday as they covered nearly 2,000 acres of desert overnight.

Israeli environmental authorities sprayed the affected area with pesticides, saying the locusts were a “medium-sized swarm.”

• Pictures: Getty Images