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The first group of the people of Al -Quds Governorate began today, Monday, heading towards the Hijazi homes to perform the Hajj pilgrimage for this year, and with their launch, the waiting lists for the pilgrims of Jerusalem were emptied from the computers of the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, and Jerusalemites will be able to register in the lottery for the Hajj starting from next year after stopping since 2011 due to the large and surrounding numbers in the lists.
The undersecretary of the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, Hossam Abu Al -Rab, told Al -Jazeera Net that 6600 Palestinians will go to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj pilgrimage, including 1500 invaders who are currently staying in Egypt, adding that the ministry’s preparations have been completed to leave the pilgrims in two batches that extend for three days, and the first batch begin today, Monday, and includes the pilgrims who will travel to Bara.
Abu Al -Rab explained that 3,500 pilgrims will arrive in Saudi Arabia, and 3100 will leave an atmosphere from Egypt and Jordan, and that the return of pilgrims to Palestine will start on June 11.
The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Awqaf touched on the upcoming waiting lists for the vacancies, and the addition of 300 new pilgrims to it this year, provided that the registration will be opened again next year.
Pilgrims of Palestine multiple categories
The director of the “Misha’an” company for Hajj and Umrah Al -Maqdisi Wael Shweiki – who will accompany his company and the staff of his company 350 pilgrims and need from Jerusalem chose “feelings” to receive its services this year – I explained to Al -Jazeera with everything related to the city’s pilgrims, but he started his speech by saying that the 1967 war divided the pilgrims of Palestine into three categories.
The first category includes the pilgrims of Jerusalem and the West Bank, and they follow directly to the Palestinian Authority, and the second category includes the pilgrims of the Gaza Strip who usually travel through Egypt.
The annual number of pilgrims of Palestine, who are from the West Bank and Gaza Strip and Jerusalem, according to Wael Shweiki, ranges between 5500 and 6 thousand pilgrims, in addition to approximately 4,500 pilgrims and need from the Palestinian interior areas who hold Israeli passports.
As for the pilgrims of Jerusalem in general, the number of pilgrims of the city – who carry the blue Israeli identity that is classified by residents of the city, is approximately 320 annually, and in addition to them between 150 and 200 pilgrims from Al -Quds Governorate who hold the Palestinian green identity card.
Waiting lists were completed
The pilgrims are chosen according to the lottery system, and Shweki says that in the year 2025, the sequence of the pilgrims ended in Jerusalem, and the number of remaining in the Ministry’s computers was 440 pilgrims, the annual lottery was added to them, and they became about 700, and they were also added to them – according to the Ministry of Awqaf – 300 new pilgrims, and the share of the province this year has become about a thousand pilgrims and needs.
With the emptying of the waiting lists, Shweki touched that it is expected that the registration will open for the Hajj season next year for the people of Jerusalem in November and December next, after a freezing for years due to the large number.
And whoever is lucky with the appearance of his name through the lot, he goes to perform the pilgrimage, and whoever will not be fortunate will registration in the next year and his name will not be automatically replaced as before.
Jerusalem pilgrims apply to the unified Palestinian Ministry of Endowments Program, and these people live, according to the director of the “Misha’m” company, in 5 -star category hotels in Madinah, and in 3 -star hotels in Makkah Al -Mukarramah and away from the Great Mosque of Mecca, one kilometer.
“The ministry has moved in its services to the pilgrims a qualitative leap about 6 years ago, and before that housing was in residential buildings, not hotels, but today the pilgrims of Palestine are in good hotels, which are somewhat close to the Great Mosque of Mecca, and this is calculated by the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments,” Ardef Shweki.
Care starts from Jerusalem and ends in it
Regarding the role assigned to the Hajj and Umrah companies during this exceptional spiritual journey, Shweki pointed out that the general plan and coordination of all pilgrims of Palestine are the responsibility of the Ministry of Awqaf, while the role of companies is services that include the management of pilgrims’ affairs, their care, their follow -up and the standing of their daily requirements, the arrangement of their transportation, their residence and their escalation to Arafa, Muzdalifah and Mona, and arranging their return to the homeland.
Palestinian pilgrims are accompanied by guides, administrators, and preaching mission and medical with arrangements and accompanying from the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments, and from the Jerusalemites included in the list of this mission usually Haji Nihad Zighar, who told Al -Jazeera Net that Jerusalem pilgrims usually start from before the headquarters of the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs in the town of Al -Eizariya, east of Jerusalem towards the King Hussein Bridge, “The Dignity Cross Their regions, and the Jordanian Hajj Mission is responsible for them.
The Palestinian Ministry of Endowments – according to Nihad Zghir – rented the housing for the pilgrims of Palestine and is usually at the “Distinguished Land” hotel in the “Hafir” area in Makkah, which is one kilometer from the Grand Mosque.
When asked about his opinion on whether the annual share of Jerusalemites from the Hajj lottery is sufficient or is it few compared to the number of applicants, Zigher indicated that Saudi Arabia adopts the number of pilgrims for each country according to the number of its residents, adding that Jerusalem is the first in terms of the number of registered people to perform the Hajj, followed by the city of Hebron.
He concluded his speech to Al -Jazeera by saying that after unloading the computers of the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments from the waiting lists for the pilgrims of Jerusalem, a new system will be approved next year, but the ministry has not announced its details yet.
