There can be no politicization of Haj pilgrimage: Saudi

Arab News

August 8, 2017

Jeddah, Aug 8: Saudi Arabia rejects all attempts to politicize and internationalize the Hajj, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, chairman of the Central Hajj Committee, said on Monday.

Prince Khaled, adviser to King Salman and governor of Makkah Region, was speaking at the inauguration of the “Hajj is Worship and Civilized Behavior” campaign. “Hajj is a message of peace,” he said.

On the campaign by Qatar to reduce the role of the Kingdom in providing services to pilgrims, Prince Khaled said: “The answer is in the title of this campaign ... There can be no politicization of pilgrimage.”

Prince Khaled said Saudi Arabia’s leadership, government and people were keen to provide everything to serve the Hajj pilgrims, and to enable them to perform their pilgrimage with ease.

He urged all pilgrims to be infused with Islamic ethics and to be a model of Muslim civilization.

“The campaign since its inception has achieved great achievements and successes, including the reduction of the rate of offenders to 5 percent during the pilgrimage season compared to 9 percent in the previous year,” he said.

“There is a lot of doubting, but the lesson is in the results and the achievement. The regulations will be applied firmly and with Islamic ethics.”

Prince Khaled revealed that the Makkah Region Development Authority had implemented projects worth SR300 million this year to improve Hajj services and develop them in the current season. The authority and the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah would implement a large project in the holy sites to be announced in due course, he said. “All sectors have their achievements in the pilgrimage season.”

The campaign, launched by the emirate of Makkah in 2008, continues to spread the Hajj message of peace. It will work to consolidate the ultimate goal of bringing millions together for performing a pillar of Islam based on peace and spirituality.

The objectives of the campaign are to educate pilgrims to abide by public laws and regulations, thus contributing significantly to a safe and peaceful pilgrimage.

The campaign targets citizens, residents, Tawafa organizations, Hajj companies, the transport sector and the media.

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Israel killing Palestinian children in Gaza every day despite ceasefire: UNICEF

News Network

November 22,2025

The Israeli regime’s forces have killed two Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip every day since the ceasefire began in early October, UNICEF has warned.

The UN children’s agency said on Friday that Israeli forces continue to attack Palestinians in Gaza even though the agreement was meant to stop the killing.

“Since 11 October, while the ceasefire has been in effect, at least 67 children have been killed in conflict-related incidents in the Gaza Strip. Dozens more have been injured. That is an average of almost two children killed every day since the ceasefire took effect,” UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires said in Geneva, reminding that each number in the statistics represents a child whose life had ended violently.

“These are not statistics,” he said. “Each child had a story, a family, and a future that was stolen from them.”

Data from Palestinian factions, human rights groups, and government bodies recorded since the US-brokered ceasefire deal went into effect on October 10 show that Israeli forces have carried out numerous attacks, each constituting a separate ceasefire violation.

UNICEF teams say they repeatedly continue to witness heart-wrenching scenes of fearful Palestinian children sleeping outdoors with amputated limbs, while others live as orphans in flooded, makeshift shelters.

“I saw this myself in August. There is no safe place for them. The world cannot normalize their suffering,” Pires said, lamenting that the UN could “do a lot more if the aid that is really needed was entering faster.”

The UNICEF spokesperson warned that with the advent of winter, the risks for hundreds of thousands of displaced children will increase.

He warned, “The stakes are incredibly high” for children as winter acts as a threat multiplier, where children have no heating, no insulation, and few blankets. He said respiratory infections rise.

“Too many children have already paid the highest price,” Pires said. “Too many are still paying it, even under a ceasefire. The world promised them it would stop and that we would protect them.”

“Now we must act like it,” the UNICEF spokesperson added.

Since the Israeli regime launched its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023, it has killed nearly 70,000 people in the territory, most of them women and children, and injured over 170,000 more, while reducing most of the structures in the enclave to rubble.

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