Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has ordered to host 1,000 Palestinian pilgrims, specifically from the families of martyrs, prisoners, and those injured, for the Hajj pilgrimage this year. This decision was announced on Saturday, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance, Sheikh Dr Abdullatif bin Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, expressed his gratitude to the King and Crown Prince for their sustained support towards the kin of Palestinian martyrs.
He stated that this ongoing magnanimous act for the Palestinian Hajj pilgrims reinforces the profound relationship and recognises the immense sacrifices made by the Palestinian people.
The programme for these honoured guests encompasses all aspects of the sacred rituals. It is also expected that modern technology and artificial intelligence will be leveraged in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goals to facilitate the hosting and provide optimal service and comfort to the pilgrims.
The selected pilgrims include Mahmoud Al Zanati, who had waited patiently for 17 years to perform the sacred Hajj.
“Thank God that we received this grant,” said an emotional Al Zanati, “Our circumstances did not allow for Hajj by natural methods, so we thank the leadership of the Kingdom for this grant, and we thank the people of the kingdom for standing by the Palestinian people.”
The honoured guests, including Al Zanati, were chosen from both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The upcoming Hajj season marks the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that there will be no restrictions on the number of pilgrims, with an expectation to receive more than two million pilgrims.
The Hajj seasons in recent years saw varying limitations due to pandemic precautions, with the 2022 season seeing only 899,353 pilgrims, including 779,919 from outside the Kingdom.
This was a significant increase from the 60,000 and 10,000 pilgrims in the 2021 and 2020 seasons respectively. Prior to the pandemic, in 2019, Saudi Arabia received 2.5 million pilgrims.
