The head of the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques in Saudi Arabia, Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, announced the launch of the "largest operational plan for the Hajj season" for the year 2023. Al-Sudais said that the plan is the result of a full year's work of preparation, planning and diligent studies, in addition to the achievements of past seasons.
The head of the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques in Saudi Arabia, Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, announced Thursday the launch of the "largest operational plan for the Hajj season" for the year 2023.
This came in his opening speech at a media forum on the Hajj season, which falls in late June, after the lifting of Corona measures and the return of pilgrims for the first time without restrictions.
In a statement, the Presidency of the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques (the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina) quoted Al-Sudais as saying, “The operational plan of the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques for this year’s Hajj season 1444 AH (2023 AD) is the largest operational plan for the presidency.”
He added, "We are pleased in the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque to announce our operational plan for the Hajj season, which is the largest in the history of the presidency and its agency for the affairs of the Prophet's Mosque."
He declared, "This plan is the largest in the history of the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque, and it is the result of a full year's work of preparation, planning and diligent studies, based on the achievements of the past seasons."
He revealed that the plan of the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques for this year "cope with the announcement of receiving millions of pilgrims, after the end of the Corona pandemic."
The plan is based on several pillars, including "attention to everything that helps God's guests to perform the rituals easily and according to the highest standards of quality, governance, monitoring, evaluation and evaluation," according to Al-Sudais.
The season is scheduled to witness 185 specific programs and initiatives, "which include investing in artificial intelligence technologies, digitizing programs, harnessing electronic applications in various fields to serve pilgrims, and addressing them in international languages to facilitate their rituals and enrich their experience," according to the same statement.
Al-Sudais pointed out that the presidency prepared for this year's Hajj "with a cadre that is the highest and largest in its history," with 14,000 employees, in addition to more than 8,000 available volunteer opportunities.
And last February, Minister of Hajj Tawfiq Al-Rabiah announced that his country expects to host more than two million pilgrims during the Hajj season for the current year 2023.
On January 9, Al-Rabiah announced that the numbers and ages of pilgrims would return to what they were before the Corona pandemic, which spread in 2020.
During the last three years, the Kingdom has known exceptional pilgrimage seasons since the spread of Corona, as it imposed restrictions on the numbers of people and the ages of those allowed to perform the pilgrimage.
The number of pilgrims during the last season reached 899,353, including 779,919 from outside the Kingdom, which is less than the highest ceiling for the number of pilgrims that was targeted at the time.
While the Hajj season for the year 2021 was limited to the participation of only 60,000 people from inside the Kingdom, under strict health controls at the time due to the outbreak of the epidemic.
However, 2020 witnessed an exceptional season for Hajj, as the number of pilgrims at that time was limited to only about 10 thousand from inside Saudi Arabia, compared to about 2.5 million in 2019 from all over the world.
Dozens of people were injured during rallies condemning settlements in the northern West Bank : Palestine
Dozens of Palestinians were injured after the occupation suppressed the weekly marches denouncing settlements in the towns of Beita, Beit Dajan, Qaryut and Kafr Qaddum.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced that dozens of Palestinians were injured and suffocated by tear gas today, Friday, after the Israeli occupation army dispersed demonstrations condemning settlements in the northern West Bank.
The towns of Beit Dajan, Beita, and Qaryut in the Nablus governorate and Kafr Qaddum in the Qalqilya governorate witnessed confrontations in which the occupation forces used tear gas, rubber bullets, and live bullets.
The coordinator of the "Popular Resistance Committees" in Kafr Qaddum, Murad Shteiwi, said in a press statement that two citizens were wounded by metal bullets during the army's suppression of the weekly anti-settlement march in the town.
Separate areas of the West Bank witness weekly activities rejecting settlement on the lines of contact with the Israeli occupation army, which disperses and pursues demonstrators inside their towns.
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