Low-cost Haj quota upped from 41,000 to 50,000

April 28, 2015

Jeddah, Apr 28: Fifty thousand domestic pilgrims will benefit from the government’s low-cost Haj service this year, said Saad Al-Qurashi, chairman of the Haj and Umrah Committee at Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on Monday.

“There will be seven categories in the low-cost Haj service with prices ranging between SR3,000 and SR5,000,” Al-Qurashi told Arab News. During the past three years, the number of pilgrims benefiting from the service increased from 17,000 in 2013 to 41,000 in 2014 and 50,000 in 2015, he said.

The ministry will start accepting applications from domestic Haj service providers on Wednesday and from low-cost Haj service agencies on Thursday. The names of companies qualified for low-cost service would be announced at 1 p.m. on the same day, said Al-Qurashi.

The ministry also disclosed plans for early allocation of tents in Mina for agencies serving domestic pilgrims on the basis of performance rate they achieved during the past Haj season. “We will inform companies about the result of tent allocation through SMS and the ministry’s website,” a ministry official said. “We have allocated 17 tents for low-cost pilgrims,” he pointed out. Low-cost Haj services will be available for SR5,000, SR4,800, SR4,400, SR4,150, SR3,900, SR3,500 and SR3,000 depending on the services and facilities.

Al-Qurashi spelled out plans to establish a Haj support service company with a capital of SR150 million. “This company will be first of its kind and to be formed by owners of 60 domestic Haj service firms,” Al-Qurashi said, adding that it would provide transport and catering services. He said domestic pilgrims would require about 30,000 seats on Saudia flights.

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‘Israeli aggression has killed 70 percent of Zionist captives in Gaza’

News Network

May 17,2024

Hamas says the Israeli regime’s bombing of the Gaza Strip, which is enduring a genocidal Israeli war, has killed 70 percent of the Zionist captives, who have been held by the Palestinian resistance movement since an October operation.

Khalil al-Hayya, deputy chief of Hamas’ Political Bureau, announced the information in an interview with Lebanon’s al-Manar television network on Thursday.

“The Zionist enemy wants to recover the remaining captives by force, killing them by bombing,” he said.

Around 250 people were taken captive on October 7 last year during Al-Aqsa Storm, a retaliatory operation by Gaza’s resistance groups.

At least 35,272 Palestinians have died in an Israeli war of genocide that began following the operation.

Hamas released 105 of the captives during a week-long truce in late November.

Hamas recently agreed to another truce proposal enabling cessation of the Israeli aggression and release of the rest of the captives. The Israeli regime, however, rejected the proposal.

The Hamas’ official said, “The latest proposal presented to us comes very close to our demands, but the enemy has not respected the proposal or the mediators.”

Al-Hayya reiterated the movement’s demands, saying any potential truce agreement had to mandate a complete and comprehensive cessation of the Israeli aggression, withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza, and then a captive exchange deal.

‘Victory is our ally’

The Hamas’ official pointed to the Israeli regime’s failure to realize its war goals, including defeating the resistance.

“After eight months of aggression, the enemy has failed to eradicate the resistance in Gaza despite all the actions of the occupation,” he said.

“The resistance has rebuilt itself and can adapt its capabilities to face the occupation,” the official said, asserting, “The resistance is capable of enduring for many months and will continue to defend its people as long as the battle is ongoing.”

“The resistance has the ability to continue because it is right, and victory is our ally, while the enemy will face defeat.”

Thanking regional resistance

Elsewhere in his remarks, al-Hayya expressed gratitude towards the regional resistance groups for the pro-Palestinian operations that they have been carrying out against Israeli targets and those associated with the occupying regime.

“The fronts in Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq support Gaza and link the cessation of [their] operations to the end of aggression on Gaza,” he said.

“When we meet with the resistance forces in the region, we affirm that the battle is one.”

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