As many as 1,5 million citizens of Palestine banned to do Umrah and Hajj by Saudi authorities

News24xx.com - Saudi Arabia prohibits Palestinians living in Israel from entering the territory of their country. During this time Palestinians living in Israel, entered Saudi using temporary Jordanian passports. This decision threatened 1.5 million Palestinians in Israel can not do Hajj and Umrah, especially those in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

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But they are allowed to enter Saudi Arabia if they use a Palestinian passport or travel documents. This passport was issued by the Palestinian authority for residents living in the Palestinian territories. Last September, the Saudis also banned Palestinian refugees holding temporary passports from Lebanon to obtain Hajj visas. Prior to that, in August, the Saudis also refused hajj visas from Palestinian refugees from Gaza who lives in Jordan.

This was done by Saudi Arabia after the country reportedly normalized relations with Israel. Last April Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that Israel has the right to exist. "I believe Palestine and Israel have the right to own their own land" he said, as quoted by Middle East Monitor.

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Several travel agents in Israel, East Jerusalem and Jordan said that the Saudi embassy in Aman mentioned that they could not apply for a visa for those who would travel to Mecca with Jordanian temporary passports. According to sources from the Middle East Eye, Saudi’s decision is part of a bilateral agreement with Israel to end "Palestinian identity and the right to return for refugees".

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