The Endowments conducts the Hajj lottery for the northern governorates and confirms work to enable Gaza pilgrims to perform the Hajj

Ramallah - Ofoq News - Today, Thursday, at its headquarters in the city of Al-Bireh, the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs conducted the electronic lottery to select pilgrims from the northern governorates (the West Bank, including Jerusalem) for the Hajj season 1448 AH / 2027, in the presence of an official and supervisory presence, representatives of the media and the Hajj and Umrah Committee, amid computerized arrangements aimed at ensuring transparency, integrity and equal opportunities, based on the provisions of the “Hajj Affairs Regulatory System” No. (15) for the year 2025.

In his opening speech, the Director of the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, Counselor Sharhabeel Al-Zaim, stressed that the Hajj represents a message of bond, unity and peace carried by the Palestinians from the land of the Night Journey and Mi’raj to the expanses of Mecca and Medina, praising the patronage of President Mahmoud Abbas and his constant directives to facilitate the performance of the Hajj, and the role of Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa and his follow-up of the path of governmental and institutional reform, which strengthened governance and developed the services system.

The leader expressed his appreciation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for its steadfast positions and continued support for the pilgrims of Palestine through royal facilities and honors.

He also stressed that the government places at the core of its priorities, through a continuous work cell and in coordination with all partners, overcoming the exceptional difficulties imposed by the current circumstances to enable our people in the Gaza Strip to join the groups of pilgrims, travel and perform their rituals in dignity and peace.

Al-Zaeem stressed that what the Hajj season is witnessing falls organically within a comprehensive reform vision led by the Ministry, based on consolidating the principles of governance, transparency, and efficient resource management.

He reviewed the Ministry’s efforts in vital files, explaining that important strides have been made in digitizing and documenting endowment properties and linking the Ministry to the government assets system at the Ministry of Finance. To manage and classify it in a modern scientific and systematic manner, in addition to diligent cooperation with the Land Authority to resolve legal disputes. To consolidate endowment rights, prevent infringements, and optimize the investment of public funds.

Al-Zaeem added that the Ministry continues to enhance social solidarity by developing zakat programs and sponsorships directed to needy families, in parallel with moving forward with reforming the administrative and financial system by rationalizing expenditures, updating procedure manuals, and clarifying powers to raise the efficiency of institutional performance. He also reviewed the “Green Mosques” plan based on utilizing roofs to install solar energy systems, indicating that the number of mosques operating with this system in the West Bank reached 340 mosques, of which 69 mosques were operated during the year 2025 AD. In order to achieve environmental sustainability and reduce expenses, in addition to expanding educational and religious care by supervising the operation of 1,323 centers for memorizing the Holy Qur’an, from which 33,386 male and female students benefited during the year 2025 AD.

For his part, the Undersecretary and Head of the Hajj and Umrah Committee, Issam Abdel Halim, reviewed the technical and administrative details of the lottery, explaining that the electronic system received applications from 30,880 male and female citizens who met the initial conditions, competing for 3,470 approved seats in the general lottery, at a rate of approximately 11% of the total registered, taking into account the fair proportional representation of more than 453 population centers based on the population census.

Abdel Halim stated that the criteria gave a relative weight to the elderly who were 70 years of age and over, and priority was given to those whose registration was repeated 5 times during the period from 2019 to 2026, in addition to approving the winners of last year’s lottery (1447 AH) who were unable to travel, on this year’s list directly and without entering the lottery again, calling on them to review the ministry to complete their procedures.

On the logistical and financial levels, the Ministry announced the provision of qualified housing options that comply with safety requirements in hotels classified as double and triple rooms, in addition to adopting two transportation routes. Land via modern buses, and air with direct transfer flights, where initial payment receipts are now available for printing to determine the payment amount based on the chosen route.

The Ministry specified the period from Tuesday, October 27, 2026 until the end of work on Thursday, November 5, 2026, to pay the fees in the approved banks, confirming that it will later announce the opening of the refund of registration fees for those who were not lucky, and urging all winners to deal exclusively with licensed Hajj and Umrah companies without any intermediaries, in order to ensure the integrity of their documents and procedures.