Before Israel launched its war on Gaza in 2023, which has been recognised as a genocide by the United Nations, genocide scholars and human rights groups, at least 3,000 Palestinians from Gaza travelled annually to perform the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Although Israel partially reopened the Rafah crossing with Egypt in February under a US-brokered ceasefire, only a few hundred people, mainly patients and limited escorts, have been allowed to leave Gaza each week.
“The border crossing is closed. Why is this happening to pilgrims? They want to fulfil their Hajj obligation; they do not want to do anything else,” one Palestinian said.
“We were supposed to be there, we were supposed to be there in these holy days,” she added while watching footage of pilgrims in Mecca on her phone.
Palestinians are also set to mark Eid al-Adha on 27 May without sacrificial animals.
