verses on the 70-metre (230 feet) rocky hill near Mecca, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have delivered his last sermon. Volunteers handed out bottles of water, parasols and food packages to the tens of thousands of pilgrims as they made their way toward Mount Arafat, as helicopters buzzed overhead regularly. "It is an indescribable feeling," said Ahmed Abu al-Ezz, a 35-year-old Egyptian engineer, as he approached Mount Arafat for the first time.

As night fell, the faithful began converging in waves toward Muzdalifah, where they will spend the night praying under the open sky, before collecting pebbles and then setting off at dawn for Mina to carry out the symbolic stoning of the devil. While many pilgrims are transported by bus, Mahmoud Zahafi, a 64-year-old Algerian, braved the heat to reach Muzdalifah on foot from Mount Arafat. "It's an exceptional day," he told AFP with a broad smile. More than 1.7 million people have joined the hajj this year, according to official figures, under the shadow of the Middle East war sparked by US-Israeli strikes on Iran. During the fighting, Tehran retaliated with waves of drone and ballistic missile strikes, hitting major infrastructure and energy installations across the Gulf, including in Saudi Arabia. More than 30,000 Iranians have made the journey, about a third of the 86,000 originally expected. Iran's IRNA state news agency said the "wartime situation" explained the drop. Despite the war, Saudi officials said over the weekend that more pilgrims had travelled from abroad this year than in 2025. For Karim Hazem, a 40-year-old Tunisian pilgrim, "this place is where the Lord gathers the community of believers and reminds us that we can be united as peoples". (Bssnews)