Gaza residents barred from Haj, animal sacrifice as Eidul Azha nears

In a tent in southern Gaza, Najia Abu Lehia mourns not only her husband but also their failure to perform the pilgrimage to Makkah, or Haj, together before he died a year ago because of war and border closures. Before the Israeli invasion of 2023, at least 3,000 Gazan pilgrims made the Haj every year. The signing of a ceasefire in October that halted major fighting raised Palestinian hopes for renewed travel, but they have been dashed by continued heavy restrictions on movement. Palestinian Najia Abu Lehia sits with her grandchildren inside a tent at a camp for displaced people, as she speaks about her wish to perform Haj amid restrictions on May 18, 2026. —REUTERS “We registered and our names got selected for the Haj before the war. Then the war broke out here and it became a barrier,” said 64-year-old Abu Lehia, who now lives in a tent encampment in Khan Younis. “I am worried I’ll follow him (die) while I’m longing to perform the Haj. But God willing, we hope to perform the Haj despite the constraints, despite the siege,” she told Reuters . Palestinian Najia Abu Lehia sits inside a tent at a camp for displaced people, holding prayer beads in her hand on May 18, 2026. —REUTERS Under the US-brokered ceasefire, in February, Israel allowed a partial reopening of the Rafah crossing to Egypt, Gaza’s main gateway to the outside world. However, only a few hundred people have been permitted to pass through each week, mostly the sick and a small number of escorts. “The border crossing is closed. Why is this happening to pilgrims? They want to fulfill their Haj obligation, they do not want to do anything else,” Abu Lehia told Reuters . “We were supposed to be there, we were supposed to be there in these holy days,” she added as she watched footage of pilgrims in Makkah on her phone. COGAT, the Israeli military agency overseeing access to Gaza, claimed the Rafah agreement allows passage o...

Original source: Dawn Pakistan