Gazans to perform Umrah pilgrimage after 5 year hiatus

Egypt will allow Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to travel to Saudi Arabia on Sunday to perform the Umrah (lesser pilgrimage) – via the Rafah border crossing – for the first time since 2014.

Last month, Yusuf Ideis, Palestinian minister of religious endowments, announced the resumption of Umrah journeys from the blockaded Gaza Strip following a five-year hiatus.

According to ministry sources, a first batch of pilgrims will set out from Gaza to Saudi Arabia on March 3.

These include at least 800 pilgrims who have already obtained the necessary travel documentation from the Saudi authorities, the sources said.

READ: Saudi bars Palestinians of Israel from Hajj, Umrah 

“The offices of pilgrimage travel companies in Gaza have been inundated by those seeking to perform the sacred journey,” Awad Abu Mazkour, chairman of Gaza’s Hajj and UmrahCompany, told Anadolu Agency.

Since late 2014, Gazans have been unable to make the pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia due to Egypt’s continued closure of the Rafah border crossing.

In January, the Egyptian authorities eased travel restrictions through the crossing, which links Israeli-blockaded Gaza to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

A woman from the first convoy, passes through the Rafah Border Gate and waits to transport and perform Umrah in Mecca after Egypt re-opened the Rafah Border Gate following four years of closure, in Rafah, Gaza on March 03, 2019 [Ali Jadallah / Anadolu Agency]

A woman from the first convoy, passes through the Rafah Border Gate and waits to transport and perform Umrah in Mecca after Egypt re-opened the Rafah Crossing following four years of closure, in Rafah, Gaza on March 03, 2019 [Ali Jadallah / Anadolu Agency]

A man from the first convoy passes the Rafah Border Gate and recites from the holy Quran as she waits to transport and perform Umrah in Mecca after Egypt re-opened the Rafah Crossing following four years of closure, in Rafah, Gaza on March 03, 2019 [Ali Jadallah / Anadolu Agency]

A woman waves hand as she and others from the first convoy pass the Rafah Border Gate to transport and perform Umrah in Mecca after Egypt re-opened the Rafah Crossing following four years of closure, in Rafah, Gaza on March 03, 2019 [Ali Jadallah / Anadolu Agency]

Gazans from the first convoy wait patiently to start their journey to Mecca for the Umrah, after Egypt re-opened the Rafah Crossing following four years of closure, in Rafah, Gaza on March 03, 2019 [Mohammad Asad / Middle East Monitor]

A Palestinian border control officer seen at a immgration desk on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, in Rafah, Gaza on March 03, 2019 [Mohammad Asad / Middle East Monitor]

Gazans from the first convoy seen at the border control desk on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, ahead of their journey to Mecca for the Umrah, after Egypt re-opened the Rafah Crossing following four years of closure, in Rafah, Gaza on March 03, 2019 [Mohammad Asad / Middle East Monitor]

Gazans from the first convoy seen at the border control desk on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, ahead of their journey to Mecca for the Umrah, after Egypt re-opened the Rafah Crossing following four years of closure, in Rafah, Gaza on March 03, 2019 [Mohammad Asad / Middle East Monitor]

Gazans from the first convoy seen at the border control desk on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, ahead of their journey to Mecca for the Umrah, after Egypt re-opened the Rafah Crossing following four years of closure, in Rafah, Gaza on March 03, 2019 [Mohammad Asad / Middle East Monitor]

Gazans from the first convoy wait patiently to start their journey to Mecca for the Umrah, after Egypt re-opened the Rafah Crossing following four years of closure, in Rafah, Gaza on March 03, 2019 [Mohammad Asad / Middle East Monitor]

A woman from the first convoy passes the Rafah Border Gate and recites from the holy Quran as she waits to transport and perform Umrah in Mecca after Egypt re-opened the Rafah Crossing following four years of closure, in Rafah, Gaza on March 03, 2019 [Ali Jadallah / Anadolu Agency]

A woman from the first convoy, passes through the Rafah Border Gate and waits to transport and perform Umrah in Mecca after Egypt re-opened the Rafah Crossing following four years of closure, in Rafah, Gaza on March 03, 2019 [Ali Jadallah / Anadolu Agency]

People from the first convoy, pass through the Rafah Border Gate and wait to transport and perform Umrah in Mecca after Egypt re-opened the Rafah Crossing following four years of closure, in Rafah, Gaza on March 03, 2019 [Ali Jadallah / Anadolu Agency]

The first convoy pass the Rafah Border Gate to transport and perform Umrah in Mecca after Egypt re-opened the Rafah Crossing following four years of closure, in Rafah, Gaza on March 03, 2019 [Ali Jadallah / Anadolu Agency]