{"id":1030,"date":"2026-05-24T05:40:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T05:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/2026\/05\/24\/despite-middle-east-war-foreign-pilgrims-flock-to-mecca-for-hajj\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T05:40:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T05:40:30","slug":"despite-middle-east-war-foreign-pilgrims-flock-to-mecca-for-hajj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=1030","title":{"rendered":"Despite Middle East war, foreign pilgrims flock to Mecca for hajj"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-tms-ad-status=\"idle\" data-tms-ad-container class=\"o-ad-container o-ad-container--banner-top o-ad-container--with-shimmer o-ad-container--with-background\">\n<div class=\"o-ad-container__content o-ad-container__content--report-enabled\">\n<div class=\"o-ad-container__label m-block-ad__label--report-enabled\">\n                    <span class=\"o-ad-container__label__text\">Advertising<\/span><br \/>\n                                            <button title=\"Report this ad\" class=\"o-ad-container__content__report-link\" data-tms-ad-report><br \/>\n                        <\/button>\n                                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"o-ad-sponsoring\" data-tms-ad-type=\"sponsoring\" data-tms-ad-status=\"disabled\">\n<div class=\"o-ad-sponsoring__wrapper\">\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content t-content--article\" id=\"main-content\">\n<div class=\"t-content__above-sidebar\">\n<h1 class=\"t-content__title a-page-title\">Despite Middle East war, foreign pilgrims flock to Mecca for hajj<\/h1>\n<div class=\"m-master-tag\">\n<div class=\"a-tag-section\">\n                                    Middle East\n                            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"t-content__chapo\">\n                                        Despite the war in the Middle East, foreign pilgrims have flocked to Mecca to participate in this year\u2019s hajj. According to officials, more than 1.5 million have already arrived in Saudi Arabia, surpassing last year\u2019s numbers.                <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content__with-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"t-content__beside-sidebar\" data-article-content>\n<div class=\"t-content__metadata\">\n<div class=\"t-content__dates\">\n<p class=\"m-pub-dates\"><span class=\"m-pub-dates__date\">Issued on: <time datetime=\"2026-05-24T05:39:03+00:00\">24\/05\/2026 &#8211; 07:39<\/time><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"a-reading-time\">\n    <span class=\"a-reading-time__icon\" title=\"Reading time\"><\/p>\n<p>    <\/span><br \/>\n    1 min    <span class=\"u-sr-only\">Reading time<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"a-share-button\" data-root-share>\n<p>                            <span class=\"a-master-button__label\">Share<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content__authors\">\n<div class=\"m-from-author\">\n                    <span class=\"m-from-author__by-label\"><br \/>\n                By:<br \/>\n            <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"m-author\">\n<div class=\"m-author__name\">\n                                                    <a href=\"\/en\/author\/france-24\/\" title=\"FRANCE 24\" class=\"m-author__name__title\"><br \/>\n                                FRANCE 24<br \/>\n                            <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content__main-media\">\n<figure class=\"m-item-image m-item-image--16x9 m-item-image--has-caption\">\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"auto\" src=\"https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/7b49831a-5730-11f1-b727-005056bfb2b6\/w:1024\/p:16x9\/AP26142709290637.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/7b49831a-5730-11f1-b727-005056bfb2b6\/w:388\/p:16x9\/AP26142709290637.jpg 388w,https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/7b49831a-5730-11f1-b727-005056bfb2b6\/w:720\/p:16x9\/AP26142709290637.jpg 720w,https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/7b49831a-5730-11f1-b727-005056bfb2b6\/w:1024\/p:16x9\/AP26142709290637.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1076px) 100vw, 1012px\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" alt=\"Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba, Islam's holiest site at the Grand Mosque, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on May 22, 2026\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"a-img \"><figcaption class=\"a-figcaption\">\n                <span>Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba, Islam&#8217;s holiest site at the Grand Mosque, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on May 22, 2026. <\/span>                <span>\u00a9 Altaf Qadri, AP<\/span>            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content__body u-clearfix\">\n<p>Over 1.5 million pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia from outside the kingdom for the upcoming <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/hajj\/\" target=\"_self\">hajj<\/a>, according to a Saudi official, exceeding the number of international visitors last year despite the war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>The conflict triggered by the US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February saw Tehran order waves of strikes on targets in Saudi Arabia and across the Gulf, prompting widespread air traffic disruptions and causing travel costs to surge.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Major Gulf airlines in the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain have worked to quickly restore much of their operational capacity after weeks of airspace closures and flight cancellations.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the complications, pilgrims have continued to flock to Saudi Arabia to participate in this year\u2019s hajj.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe total number of pilgrims arriving from abroad has reached 1,518,153,\u201d Saleh Al-Murabba, the commander of Saudi Arabia\u2019s Hajj Passport Forces, told a press conference late Friday.<\/p>\n<p>These figures are expected to rise further over the next two days as pilgrims continue to arrive from abroad ahead of the formal rituals that mark the beginning of the hajj on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, the total number of pilgrims at the hajj reached 1,673,320, including 1,506,576 from outside Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p>The hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, must be performed at least once by all Muslims with the means.<\/p>\n<p><em>(FRANCE 24 with AFP)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"o-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"o-sidebar__aside\">\n<div data-tms-ad-status=\"idle\" data-tms-ad-container class=\"o-ad-container o-ad-container--box o-ad-container--with-shimmer\">\n<div class=\"o-ad-container__content o-ad-container__content--report-enabled\">\n<div class=\"o-ad-container__label m-block-ad__label--report-enabled\">\n                    <span class=\"o-ad-container__label__text\">Advertising<\/span><br \/>\n                                            <button title=\"Report this ad\" class=\"o-ad-container__content__report-link\" data-tms-ad-report><br \/>\n                        <\/button>\n                                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content__tags t-content__below-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"m-section-title m-section-title--small\">Keywords for this article<\/div>\n<ul class=\"m-tags-list\">\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/saudi-arabia\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"Saudi Arabia\">    Saudi Arabia<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/mecca\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"Mecca\">    Mecca<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/islam\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"Islam\">    Islam<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/muslims\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"Muslims\">    Muslims<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/hajj\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"Hajj\">    Hajj<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Advertising Despite Middle East war, foreign pilgrims flock to Mecca for hajj Middle East Despite&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}