Politics at Haj won’t be tolerated

August 20, 2013

Riyadh, Aug 20: Saudi Arabia has warned foreign Hajis against politicizing the annual pilgrimage, saying it would not tolerate any move to violate the event’s sanctity and security.

“We have signed agreements with all foreign Haj missions to make sure their pilgrims strictly follow the Kingdom’s regulations,” said Haj Minister Bandar Hajjar.

“Exploiting Haj for political purposes will be a violation of this agreement,” he added.

The minister’s statement is significant as it comes at a time when political disturbances are taking place in many parts of the Muslim world including Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen.

The Saudi regulations strictly ban any type of demonstrations during Haj as such activities disturb the event’s peaceful atmosphere.

Saudi authorities have decided to cut the number of foreign pilgrims by 20 percent and domestic pilgrims by 50 percent this year because of ongoing expansion work at the Grand Mosque in Makkah.

The first groups of Haj pilgrims are expected to arrive by the end of this week. “We have made arrangements to receive these pilgrims who are scheduled to arrive between Aug. 22 and 27,” said Hatim Al-Qadi, spokesman of the ministry.

The majority of foreign pilgrims will come by air while the remaining by land and sea. The annual pilgrimage comes following a successful Umrah season, which drew more than five million foreigner pilgrims.

According to Al-Qadi, 70,000 of these Umrah pilgrims still remain in Makkah and Madinah. The Kingdom has decided not to give Haj visas to the elderly and those suffering from chronic diseases this year in order to prevent the spread of MERS.

“This new rule will be applicable to the forthcoming Haj and the subsequent Umrah seasons,” Health Ministry spokesman Khalid Al-Mirghalani told Arab News.

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Syrian Town erupts after Israeli forces enter Beit Jinn; heavy casualties reported

News Network

November 28,2025

Several Syrians were killed and more than two dozen others injured in Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Damascus, amid intensified incursions by the occupying regime since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rule.

Syrian state TV reported that the casualties occurred during an overnight Israeli assault involving helicopters and drones on the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside. The attack followed an Israeli military unit’s entry into the town, where they were surrounded by local residents, leading to gunfire and direct confrontations.

According to the report, “The occupation army’s helicopters and artillery shelled Beit Jinn, located at the foothills of Mount Hermon, resulting in 13 martyrs and 25 injured civilians.” The broadcaster did not specify the full extent of damage.

Al-Ikhbariyah Syria confirmed that the shelling coincided with Israeli soldiers entering Beit Jinn, while artillery pounded surrounding areas. The broadcaster stated that the escalation began after local residents clashed with an Israeli patrol that had infiltrated the southern town and “kidnapped” three young men.

Following a two-hour exchange of heavy fire, Israeli forces withdrew and repositioned on the hill of Butt al-Warda at the town’s outskirts.

Israeli media acknowledged that six soldiers were wounded in the clashes—three of them seriously—describing the confrontation as a “sudden ambush” that forced the deployment of reserve units and air support to secure an exit route. No further details were provided.

The aggression has fueled renewed displacement from Beit Jinn, with residents fleeing to nearby villages amid increasingly frequent Israeli attacks.

The raid came just a day after Israeli troops carried out another ground incursion into Umm al-Luqas village in Quneitra province. According to SANA, an Israeli unit in four vehicles entered the village, raided several homes, and later withdrew.

Syria condemned the repeated incursions as violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and UN resolutions, urging the international community to enforce compliance and pressure Israel to halt its operations and withdraw fully.

Israel has expanded its attacks across Syrian territory following the collapse of the Assad government last year. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly instructed his forces to push deeper into Syrian territory and seize strategic positions.

Meanwhile, critics say the HTS-led interim government’s inaction and growing normalization gestures toward Israel have emboldened Tel Aviv to intensify its military operations. HTS, formerly linked to al-Qaeda, seized control of Damascus last December, formally ending Assad’s rule.

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