Muslims start the Hajj against the backdrop of the devastating Israel-Hamas war WPXI [Video]

MINA, Saudi Arabia — (AP) — In sweltering temperatures, Muslim pilgrims in the Saudi city of Mecca converged on a vast desert tent camp Friday, officially starting the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Earlier, they circled the cube-shaped Kaaba in the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site.

More than 1.5 million pilgrims from around the world have already amassed in and around Mecca for the Hajj, and the number was still growing as more pilgrims from inside Saudi Arabia joined. Authorities expected the number to exceed 2 million this year.

This year’s Hajj comes against the backdrop of the raging Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, which pushed the Middle East to the brink of a wider conflict.

Palestinians in Gaza were not able to travel to Mecca this year because of the closure of the Rafah crossing in May, when Israel expanded its ground offensive to the coastal strip’s southern city of Rafah, on the border with Egypt.

“We pray for the Muslims, for our country and people, for all the …