Israel's brutal war on Gaza is set to cast a long shadow on this year's Hajj pilgrimage as over 1.5 million Muslims flocked to the Saudi holy city of Mecca.
One of the world's largest annual religious gatherings officially begins Friday and Saudi officials are trying to keep the focus on prayers.
The Gulf kingdom's minister in charge of religious pilgrimages, Tawfiq al-Rabiah, warned last week that "no political activity" will be tolerated.
The Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, must be performed at least once by all Muslims with the means.
As of late Monday around 1.5 million pilgrims had arrived in Saudi Arabia from abroad, most of them by air, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
"It's magnificent," Mariam Comate, a 48-year-old from Ivory Coast, told AFP after reaching Mecca's Grand Mosque.
"When I first saw the Kaaba, I was amazed," she said, referring to the black cubic structure in the mosque toward which all Muslims pray.
Last year over 2 million people completed the Hajj rites, which last for several days. Around 90% came from overseas, mainly from elsewhere in the Arab world and from Asia, according to official figures.
Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has "created a lot of anger in (the) broader Muslim world," turning this year's Hajj into a "test" for Saudi leaders, said Umer Karim, an expert on Saudi politics at the University of Birmingham.
"Protest or performance is bound to happen by individuals or groups of pilgrims, and Saudis understand this is a slippery slope," he said. "Thus for Saudi rulers conducting Hajj is a matter of prestige but also a test of their governance."
Pilgrimage politics
The Gaza war was triggered by the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion that caused the death of nearly 1,200 people and seized more than 250 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's war on Gaza, in comparison, has killed more than 37,100 Palestinians, the Gaza Health Ministry has said, and reduced most of the narrow, coastal enclave to wasteland.
Saudi Arabia has never recognized Israel but de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was considering establishing formal diplomatic ties with Israel before the Oct. 7 incursion.
Saudi leaders remain in talks with U.S. officials about a so-called mega-deal that would see Riyadh recognize Israel in exchange for a deeper security relationship with Washington.
However, Saudi officials have said ties with Israel are impossible without "irrevocable" steps toward recognition of a Palestinian state, which the Israeli government strongly opposes.
Saudi King Salman issued a decree Monday to host 1,000 pilgrims "from the families of martyrs and the wounded from the Gaza Strip," bringing to 2,000 the number of Palestinian pilgrims to be hosted this year, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
The Hajj is a source of legitimacy for Saudi rulers, and King Salman's title includes "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" in Mecca and Medina.
Yet the Saudi government also "uses the pilgrimage to control Muslims worldwide," as it can potentially bar critics from performing an essential religious rite, said Madawi al-Rasheed, a Saudi academic and opposition figure based in London.
"The Saudis will increase their control over the pilgrims to prevent any mobilization around support for Gaza. It remains to be seen whether the pilgrims will respect Saudi wishes."
Heat fears
The rites in Mecca and its surroundings fall again this year during the hot Saudi summer, with officials forecasting average high temperatures of 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit).
Last year, more than 2,000 people suffered heat stress, which includes heatstroke, exhaustion, cramps and rashes, according to Saudi authorities.
The real figure was probably far higher, as many sufferers were not admitted to hospitals or clinics.
Pilgrims have already arrived en masse in Mecca to begin circling the Kaaba.
Large crowds at the Hajj have proved hazardous in the past, most recently in 2015 when a stampede during the "stoning the devil" ritual in Mina, near Mecca, killed up to 2,300 people in the deadliest Hajj disaster.
Managing the gathering represents "a logistical achievement," said Bernard Haykel, a Saudi expert at Princeton University, with extensive surveillance and monitoring in place for security and health reasons.
Pilgrimages to Mecca are a financial windfall for Saudi Arabia, generating billions of dollars as the world's biggest crude oil exporter tries to develop its tourism sector.
Umrah, the pilgrimage that can be performed throughout the year, drew 13.5 million faithful last year. Authorities are targeting 30 million Hajj and Umrah pilgrims by 2030.