For the third year in a row, Israel is banning the Hajj Hajj for the Muslims of Gaza Human Rights Issues

Hanan al-Hams was among the 3,000 Palestinians from Gaza who were supposed to go on the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in 2024. But his lifelong dream to perform the Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, was shattered by Israel’s war on Gaza, which was launched on October 7, 2024.

“I lost my son, my house was destroyed, and now I have been deprived of the visit I waited for years,” al-Hams, 65, told Al Jazeera, sitting inside a makeshift tent built on the ruins of his home in northern Gaza.

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Entry and exit from Gaza was decided by Israel even before the war. The partial opening in February of the Rafah crossing – the only connection with the outside world – has allowed patients who need medical treatment abroad to go.

For any other purpose of travel, including travel, study, and work, exiting the area is nearly impossible amid Israel’s land, air and sea blockade since 2007.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have fled, living in camps and destroying homes as Israeli forces turn the besieged enclave into rubble, killing at least 72,775 Palestinians in an ongoing civil war that has drawn international condemnation.

The October 2025 ceasefire ended the war, but Israel has he continued to attack the soldiers and they continue to occupy more than 60 percent of the Gaza Strip in violation of the agreement.

In the besieged Gaza Strip, sad scenes are being heard as the Hajj season begins in Saudi Arabia. Adnan Abu Foul and his wife, Um Ibrahim, wept when they saw pilgrims walking around the Kaaba on a small mobile computer.

“The war stopped, and we were hoping to do Hajj, but for three years, I couldn’t leave,” said Abu Foul.

According to the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs in Gaza, more than 10,000 citizens have been prevented from performing Hajj in three years due to Israel’s closure of the Rafah crossing, which crosses the border with Egypt.

At least 71 Hajj pilgrims, who have passed through the past years, died in the Israeli war before performing the ritual, according to Awqaf.

Economic collapse

The ban on Gaza travelers goes beyond the border closure, revealing the systematic destruction of the religious tourism economy.

A learning published in May 2026 by the Palestinian Center for Political Studies (PCPS), written by researcher Khaled Abu Amer, describes Israel’s campaign against the Gaza Strip for Hajj and Umrah as “economic genocide”. Umrah is a pilgrimage to Mecca that Muslims can perform at any time of the year.

The survey shows a complete collapse of all 78 licensed companies in the sector. Mohammed al-Astal, head of the Association of Hajj and Umrah Companies in Gaza, said that many offices were damaged or destroyed in the fighting.

This damage resulted in a loss of more than $4m, along with $2-3m in cold funds used by foreign operators, such as airlines and hotels in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Before the war, the sector contributed $12m a year to the local economy. The loss of income has affected more than 1,500 people directly and indirectly and their income.

Mohammed Abdul Bari, a local Hajj organizer, stood in front of his company’s debris, recalling how he used to send 20 buses for large farewell parties that have now disappeared into ruins.

Public punishment

The PCPS report says repeated inspections of the unit confirm that the vandalism is a deliberate process and not an accidental vandalism.

This systematic termination legally constitutes “collective punishment”, which is prohibited under Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. In addition, denying people the opportunity to travel for religious purposes through Israeli-occupied territory is a double violation of the right to freedom of religion and movement, protected by Articles 18 and 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It also violates Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the destruction of civilian property.

Because of the blockade, the annual Hajj quota of about 3,000 is being filled by Palestinians with Gaza IDs who live in Egypt and other countries. Thousands of places have also been temporarily relocated to pilgrims from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with an official agreement to compensate Gaza for these numbers in future seasons.

However, for now, thousands of elderly and sick people in Gaza are still trapped, living with a fading hope.

“We have not been able to fix the season because we have not been given guarantees that the crossing will be opened,” said Rami Abu Staitah, head of Hajj and Umrah at the Ministry of Waqf. “Planning requires preliminary, complex contracts for housing and transportation, which are not possible under these conditions.”

The ministry has urgently asked the countries, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt to intervene, urging them to separate religious visits from political figures.