King Salman Invites 1.000 of His Citizens to Hajj, Minister of Palestine: Makes a Big Impact on the Families of the Martyrs

JAKARTA - Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud issued a royal order inviting 1.000 Palestinians to perform the Hajj this year.

This is part of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Program for Hajj Guests in collaboration with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Da'wah, and Counseling, as quoted by the Saudi Arabian News Agency, Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

"The continuation of this generous gesture towards Palestinian pilgrims who perform the pilgrimage every year at the expense of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, comes as an affirmation of the depth of the relationship and its appreciation for the great sacrifices made by the Palestinian people," said Sheikh Dr. Abdullatif bin Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, reported by The National News June 23.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Minister of Waqf and Religious Affairs Hatem al-Bakri praised Saudi Arabia's move.

"Saudi Arabia's support for Palestine is very large in all fields, especially in serving and caring for the pilgrims," ​​he said, citing The New Arab from SPA.

"This has had a huge impact on the families of the martyrs, prisoners, and injured in Palestine, and is within the framework of the Kingdom's permanent support for the Palestinian people and their cause," Minister Bakri continued.

It is known that Palestinians wishing to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the pilgrimage, usually travel through a third-party country to arrive in Saudi Arabia, due to Israeli restrictions on Palestinian travel.

Gazans, for example, must travel to Egypt first if they want to go to perform the Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

Since its introduction 22 years ago, more than 43.000 pilgrims have benefited from this scheme.

This year, more than 2.6 million people are expected to perform the Hajj, along with the return of the number of pilgrims after the lifting of the COVID-19 restrictions. The peak of this year's Hajj is expected to start on June 26.