The ongoing power struggle between the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and Hamas' government in Gaza may prevent several thousand Palestinian Muslims from the Gaza Strip from fulfilling their religious obligation of visiting Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
The pilgrimage dispute is connected to the Gaza authorities' insistence that all pilgrims leaving the Strip register for the trip in Gaza, not in Ramallah.
But in accordance with Saudi Arabia's standing arrangement with the Palestinian Authority, Saudi immigration and pilgrimage authorities demand all Palestinian traffic into Saudi Arabia be coordinated through Ramallah.
Riyadh has set a quota of 2,300 pilgrims from Gaza and an additional 5,700 from the West Bank. Yet so far, Saudi Arabia has not granted entry visas to Palestinians who file their pilgrimage requests from Gaza.
Gazan who did register through Ramallah for the pilgrimage - "Haj" in Arabic - are not being serviced by Gaza clinics which are supposed to give them the necessary vaccinations to obtain a Saudi visa.
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