In scorching temperatures, Muslim pilgrims gathered in Mecca, converging on a vast tent camp in the desert to officially commence the annual Hajj pilgrimage on Friday.
Prior to their journey, they circled the cube-shaped Kaaba in the Grand Mosque, the holiest site in Islam.
With over 1.5 million pilgrims from around the globe already assembled in and around Mecca for the Hajj, the numbers continued to swell as more pilgrims from within Saudi Arabia joined.
Saudi authorities anticipated the total number of pilgrims to surpass 2 million this year.
This year's Hajj unfolded against the backdrop of Israel's relentless attacks on the Gaza Strip, escalating tensions across the Middle East, with the region teetering on the brink of a broader regional conflict.
Palestinians in the coastal enclave of Gaza were not able to travel to Mecca for Hajj this year because of the closure of the Rafah crossing in May, when Israel extended its ground offensive to the strip’s southern city of Rafah on the border with Egypt.
Palestinian authorities said 4,200 pilgrims from the occupied West Bank arrived in Mecca for Hajj.
Saudi authorities said 1,000 more from the families of Palestinians killed or wounded in the war in Gaza also arrived to perform Hajj at the invitation of King Salman of Saudi Arabia.
The 1,000 invitees were already outside Gaza – mostly in Egypt – before the closure of the Rafah crossing.
"We are deprived of (performing) Hajj because the crossing is closed, and because of the raging wars and destruction,” said Amna Abu Mutlaq, a 75-year-old Palestinian woman from Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis who had planned to perform Hajj this year. "They (Israel) deprived us of everything.”
This year's Hajj also saw Syrian pilgrims traveling to Mecca on direct flights from Damascus for the first time in more than a decade.
The move was part of an ongoing thaw in relations between Saudi Arabia and conflict-stricken Syria.
Syrians in opposition-held areas used to cross the border into neighboring Türkiye on their exhausting trip to Mecca for Hajj.
"This is the natural thing: Pilgrims go to Hajj directly from their home countries,” said Abdel-Aziz al-Ashqar, a Syrian coordinator of the group of pilgrims who left Damascus this year for Hajj.
The pilgrimage is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, and all Muslims are required to make the five-day Hajj at least once in their lives if they are physically and financially able to do so.
It is a moving spiritual experience for pilgrims who believe it absolves sins and brings them closer to God, while uniting the world’s more than 2 billion Muslims.
It is also a chance to pray for peace in many conflict-stricken Arab and Muslim countries, including Yemen and Sudan, where more than a year of war between rival generals created the world's largest displacement crisis.
For many Muslims, the Hajj is the only major journey they make in their lives.
Some spend years saving up money and waiting for a permit to embark on the journey in their 50s and 60s after raising their children.
The rituals during the Hajj largely commemorate the Quran’s accounts of Prophet Ibrahim, his son Prophet Ismail, and Ismail’s mother Hajar.
Male pilgrims wear an ihram, two unstitched sheets of white cloth that resemble a shroud, while women dress in conservative, loose-fitting clothing with headscarves, and forgo makeup and perfume.
They have been performing the ritual circuit around the cube-shaped Kaaba, counter-clockwise in the seven-minaret Grand Mosque since arriving in Mecca over recent days.
Saudi authorities have adopted security restrictions in and around Mecca, with checkpoints set up on roads leading to the city to prevent those without Hajj permits from reaching the holy sites.
Security authorities arrested many people who attempted to take pilgrims to Mecca without Hajj permits, said Lt. Gen. Muhammad al-Bassami, head of the Hajj Security Committee.
Most of them were expelled from the country, while travel agents faced jail for up to six months, according to the Interior Ministry.
On Friday, the pilgrims made their way to Mina, officially opening the Hajj.
They will then move for a daylong vigil Saturday on Mount Arafat, a desert hill where the Prophet Muhammad is said to have delivered his final speech, known as the Farewell Sermon.
Healthy pilgrims make the trip on foot; others use buses or trains.
The time of year when the Hajj takes place varies, given that Hajj is set for five days in the second week of Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month in the Islamic lunar calendar.
Most of the Hajj rituals are held outdoors with little if any shade. When it falls in the summer months, temperatures can soar to over 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
The Health Ministry has cautioned that temperatures in the holy sites could reach 48 degrees Celsius. Many pilgrims carried umbrellas against the burning sun.
After Saturday’s worship in Arafat, pilgrims will travel a few kilometers to a site known as Muzdalifa to collect pebbles that they will use in the symbolic stoning of pillars representing the devil back in Mina.
Pilgrims then return to Mina for three days, coinciding with the festive Eid al-Adha holiday, when financially able Muslims around the world slaughter livestock and distribute the meat to poor people. Afterward, they return to Mecca for the final circumambulation, known as the Farewell Tawaf.
In recent years, the annual pilgrimage has returned to its monumental scale after three years of heavy restrictions because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2023, more than 1.8 million pilgrims performed Hajj, approaching the 2019 level when more than 2.4 million pilgrims participated in the pilgrimage.
