120,000 to be summoned next Sunday for performing Haj illegally

October 22, 2013

Abha, Oct 22: The Ministry of Interior has sent a strongly-worded circular to all regional governorates asking them to start taking stringent penal action against those Saudis and expatriates who performed Haj without a permit.

The violators will be summoned next Sunday to the nearest police stations across the Kingdom in order to take punitive measures against them.

The governorates have been directed to find 120,000 pilgrims who have been finger-printed while performing Haj without a permit and take them to police stations. The security agencies used fingerprinting devices in Makkah and the Holy Sites of Mina and Arafat this year in order to detect Saudis and expatriates without Haj permits.

According to governorate sources, there won’t be any leniency toward violators of the Haj Ministry’s rules in this regard. Saudis have to take a pledge in front of the security authorities, in addition to paying fines. The expatriate violators will be deported and they won’t be allowed to re-enter the Kingdom for 10 years.

Immediately after the completion of Haj rituals, the General Directorate of Passports started sending text messages to sponsors and employers asking them to terminate work contracts with their expatriate employees who performed Haj illegally.

A number of expatriates have confirmed that their employers had received SMS to fire them for performing Haj illegally.

According to the sources, more than 200,000 Saudis and expatriates performed Haj this year without a permit. Last year, the figure was over 600,000.

Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah region and Chairman of the Central Haj Committee, and Minister of Haj Dr. Bandar Hajjar warned earlier that expatriates who perform Haj without a permit will be deported and banned for 10 years.

The warning was instrumental in bringing down considerably the number of illegal pilgrims during this year’s Haj.

Saudi drivers who provided transportation facilities for illegal pilgrims would also face penal action.

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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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