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GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — The armed wing of Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas has put its weapons on public display for the first time, drawing hundreds of Palestinians including children brandishing rocket launchers for selfies.

Dressed in black balaclavas and tactical camouflage suits, members of the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades mingled with young men and women at the exhibition in Gaza City's Unknown Soldier's Square.

"Resistance is an image and a memory. Take souvenir photos with many of Al Qassam's weapons," the group said in an invitation on social media and posters in mosques.

The event was the first at which Hamas has allowed the public to take photos of weapons.

It follows the latest surge in worsening Israeli-Palestinian violence, which cost 16 Palestinian and four Israeli lives in the occupied West Bank over six days in late June.

In May, militant groups in Gaza and Israel traded cross-border fire for five days, killing 34 Palestinians, among them six commanders of the Islamic Jihad, fighters from other Palestinian armed groups and civilians including children. One Israeli woman died.

Among the Hamas weapons on display in Gaza City on Friday were a range of locally manufactured missiles, "Shihab" drones, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and Russian-made "Kornet" missiles.

Exhibitions are also scheduled to take place on Saturday in the north and centre of the Gaza Strip, where people are normally forbidden to approach and photograph military sites.

At the entrance to the Gaza City exhibition a banner welcomed visitors, some of whom had come with their families and children, an AFP correspondent said.

Dozens of uniformed Al Qassam Brigades members were on hand.

'Proud of the resistance' 

A young boy in fatigues and wearing a green Brigades headband smiled for the cameras as a man propped a rocket launcher on his shoulder.

Another held the controls of an anti-aircraft gun as young men posed in front of a display of rockets on stands.

“I came with my family to take photos with the weapons and reinforce the spirit of resistance in our children,” said Gaza resident Abu Mohammed Abu Shakian.

The exhibition is “encouraging and means that the liberation of our land is near”, added Shahadeh Dalou, who also came with his children.

Bassam Darwish, 58, said people wanted to show their support for the Al Qassam Brigades.

“Everyone is happy and proud of the Al Qassam exhibition. We are here because we’re proud of the resistance,” he said.

Around 2.3 million Palestinians live in the impoverished Gaza Strip which has been under a crippling Israeli-led blockade since Hamas seized power in 2007.

Israel and Palestinian groups in Gaza have fought several wars since.

MINA, Saudi Arabia - Vast crowds of worshippers hurled pebbles in the "stoning of the devil" ritual on Wednesday as the biggest Hajj pilgrimage since the Covid pandemic draws to a close in Saudi Arabia.

From dawn in Mina, hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims began pelting three concrete monoliths representing Satan under soaring temperatures before heading to Mecca for a final "tawaf" -- circling the Kaaba, the giant black cube at the Grand Mosque.

More than 1.8 million people are taking part in the first unrestricted Hajj since Covid struck in 2020. About 2.5 million, the most on record, joined the pilgrimage in pre-pandemic 2019.

As well as crowds at every turn, the visitors have had to contend with ferocious temperatures at the Hajj, which currently coincides with the Saudi summer.

Temperatures peaked at 48 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, when the pilgrims prayed for hours at Mount Arafat. The mercury hit 47 degrees on Wednesday.

In Mina, some sought shelter from the sun by lying under parked trucks, while civil defence volunteers inspected tents to check on pilgrims.

"I will not think of doing Hajj again until it takes place in winter," said Farah, a 26-year-old Tunisian who did not want to give her full name.

"My body is melting," she said.

As helicopters buzzed overhead, pilgrims flooded the streets around Mina. In Mecca, the Grand Mosque was packed from the early morning with circling pilgrims, who loudly congratulated each other on completing the rituals.

This year's attendance figure, announced by Saudi officials on Tuesday, falls well short of their predictions of beating the 2019 record, possibly because of the heat or the cost, at around $5,000 per person just to attend.

The overwhelming majority of the 1.8 million pilgrims -- more than 1.6 million -- are foreigners, coming from about 160 countries.

The hajj is a major revenue-earner for Saudi Arabia, which is trying to pivot its oil-reliant economy in new directions including tourism. The kingdom makes an estimated $12 billion a year from the Hajj and year-round umrah pilgrimages.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman issued a message wishing "well-being and prosperity on our country, on Muslims and the world" and announced he would pay for sacrificial animals for nearly 5,000 of the poorest pilgrims.

Wednesday's devil-stoning marks the start of the three-day Eid Al Adha holiday, celebrated by Muslims by buying and slaughtering livestock to commemorate Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son.

'Very exhausted'

The scorching conditions have been perhaps the biggest challenge for this year's worshippers, including many elderly after a maximum age limit was scrapped.

In recent years the Hajj, which follows the lunar calendar, has fallen in the Saudi summer, at a time when global warming is making the desert climate even hotter.

Experts have warned that temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius could become an annual occurrence in Saudi Arabia by the end of the century.

As protection from the heat, many pilgrims have been walking with umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun, while others carry their folded prayer blankets above their heads.

One security guard was seen fanning a seated pilgrim, apparently overcome by the heat at Mina. According to official figures, at least 287 people have been treated for heat exhaustion and heatstroke.

Sitting under a white umbrella, Shahinar Mustafa said enduring the heat only gave more weight to her prayers.

"I don't dwell on whether it’s hot or cold," said the 57-year-old Egyptian school teacher.

"The hotter the weather, the better my deeds" appear in the eyes of God, she said.

The rituals started on Sunday at Mecca's Grand Mosque, Islam's holiest site, before an overnight stay in tents and then the prayers on Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have delivered his final sermon.

MINA, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims walked or rode buses on Monday to a giant tented city near Mecca for the climax of the annual Hajj that Saudi officials say could break attendance records.

After performing the ritual circumambulation of the Kaaba, the giant black cube at Mecca's Grand Mosque that Muslims pray towards each day, worshippers set off for Mina, about seven kilometres away, in suffocating heat.

Pilgrims in robes and sandals, many carrying umbrellas against the beating sun, undertook the journey on foot or crowded onto hundreds of air-conditioned buses provided by Saudi authorities.

They will spend the night in white tents in Mina, which every year hosts the world's largest encampment, before the Hajj's high-point on Tuesday: prayers at Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Mohammed is said to have delivered his final sermon.

"My dream has come true," said Jamila Hammoudi, a 62-year-old Moroccan school teacher. "I will pray for everyone," she told AFP after arriving in the tented city.

Shortly after midday, pilgrims packed most of the tents, which contain two to three beds and are fitted with water and food.

Many were overcome by the experience as they fulfil a lifelong dream at the sites where Islam began.

Saudi officials say this year’s Hajj — one of the five pillars of Islam — could be the biggest in history. After 2.5 million attended in 2019, numbers were capped in 2020, 2021 and 2022 because of the COVID pandemic.

The pilgrimage has seen multiple crises over the years, including militant attacks, deadly fires and a 2015 stampede that killed up to 2,300 people. There have been no major incidents since.

As part of the safety measures, helicopters and AI-equipped drones have been deployed to monitor the flow of traffic towards Mina, which sits in a narrow valley flanked by rocky mountains.

A small fleet of self-driving buses, seating up to 11 people, is in operation between the sites of the rituals, including Mecca — Islam’s holiest city — Mina and Muzdalifah.

One of the biggest risks this year at the Hajj, which follows the lunar calendar, is heat, especially after maximum age restrictions were removed.

Habbia Abdel Nasser, a Moroccan woman who was performing the rituals with her husband, needed urgent medical treatment near the Grand Mosque because of the heat.

“The weather is very hot here compared to Morocco, and we feel exhausted,” said her husband, 62-year-old businessman Rahim Abdel Nasser, as he poured water on her head to cool her down.

The health ministry has recommended pilgrims use umbrellas during the day and has told the sick and elderly to stay indoors around midday to “avoid sunstroke”.

Four hospitals and 26 clinics are ready to deal with ailing pilgrims in Mina, and more than 190 ambulances have been deployed, officials said.

On Tuesday, the pilgrims will pray and recite the Koran for several hours at Mount Arafat and spend the night nearby. The following day, they will gather pebbles and hurl them at three giant concrete walls for the symbolic “stoning of the devil” ritual.

The last stop is back in Mecca, where they will perform a final circumambulation of the Kaaba, which according to Muslim tradition had been built by Abraham and his son, Ishmael.

All Muslims who are capable are expected to perform the Hajj at least once. About 1.6 million foreigners had arrived for the pilgrimage by Friday evening, officials said.

“It is an experience that is worth it,” said Salim Ibrahim, a 39-year-old Nigerian, when asked about temperatures that have touched 46ºC.

“Even if the heat gets stronger, I will repeat the Hajj again,” he added.

KHARTOUM — Artillery fire, air strikes and gun battles rocked Sudan's capital on Saturday, witnesses told AFP, as the UN urged a stop to "wanton killings" that have left decomposing bodies in Darfur.

While fighting rages, relief efforts have stalled after more than two months of fighting between rival generals.

Houses in Khartoum shook from the fighting that continued unabated, residents said, with entire families sheltering in place, running low on vital supplies in the baking summer heat.

The United Nations says nearly 1.5 million people have fled the capital since violence erupted in mid-April, pitting the regular army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Entire districts of Khartoum no longer have running water, and those who remain in the city have had no electricity at all since Thursday, several residents told AFP.

The battle for power between army chief Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has killed more than 2,000 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.

The deadliest violence has raged in Darfur, a vast western region on the border with Chad where the UN has warned of possible crimes against humanity and said the conflict has taken an "ethnic dimension".

In the South Darfur state capital Nyala, residents said they had been caught in the crossfire. They reported battles, shelling and artillery strikes.

"Civilians were killed, and wounded are arriving at the hospital," a medic told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The UN on Saturday urged "immediate action" to stop killings of people fleeing El Geneina, the West Darfur state capital, by Arab militias aided by the paramilitaries.

The Geneva-based UN rights office said witnesses had given "corroborating accounts" of militias targeting men from the non-Arab Masalit people.

It said all but two of the 16 people it interviewed testified they had witnessed "summary executions" and the targeting of civilians on the road from El Geneina to the border between June 15 and 16.

“All those interviewed also spoke of seeing dead bodies scattered along the road — and the stench of decomposition,” the UN said.

Aid blocked 

Two-thirds of health facilities in the main battlegrounds remain out of service, according to the Sudanese doctors’ union. The few hospitals still operating are extremely low on medical supplies and struggling to obtain fuel to power generators.

The UN says a record 25 million people — more than half of Sudan’s population — are in need of aid and protection.

Aid has reached at least 2.8 million people, the UN said, but agencies report major hurdles to their work, from visas for foreign humanitarians to securing safe corridors.

“The army is... loath to let aid into the capital, fearing that packages will end up in the RSF’s hands” as has happened before, “allowing the paramilitary to hold out longer”, according to think-tank the International Crisis Group (ICG).

The United States, which along with Saudi Arabia sought to mediate between the warring sides and ensure humanitarian aid can reach those in need, said on Thursday it had put its efforts on 

hold.

“Both sides seek to use the humanitarian talks for tactical advantage... with the military demanding that the RSF vacate residential areas and the RSF demanding that the army cease its aerial barrages,” ICG said this week in a report.

‘Haven’ for mercenaries 

No side appears willing to stand down, exacerbating the risk of prolonged conflict with regional ramifications.

More than 150,000 people have fled Darfur over the border to Chad, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

Chad, which already hosted more than 680,000 refugees, needs massive financial and technical support to confront this “unprecedented migratory crisis”, Prime Minister Saleh Kebzabo said on Saturday.

Daglo’s RSF have their origins in the Janjaweed militias which former strongman Omar Bashir unleashed in response to a rebellion by ethnic minorities in Darfur in 2003, drawing charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“A collapsed Sudan could create a haven for transnational militants... mercenaries and traffickers who could plague the country’s neighbourhood for years to come,” ICG warned.

MECCA, Saudi Arabia — The Hajj pilgrimage has given Sudanese faithful Kamal Kabashi a brief respite from his country’s bloody conflict. Having safely arrived in Islam’s holiest city, he was praying for peace.

Only weeks ago his home in North Darfur state, in Sudan’s west, was hit by shelling as a power struggle between rival generals spiralled into an all-out war.

Kabashi, his wife and their five children were unharmed as they had relocated to a safer neighbourhood of El Fasher, the state capital, days before.

Now, after a perilous four-day journey by land and sea, Kabashi has joined more than one million worshippers on the annual pilgrimage to the Saudi holy city of Mecca.

“I am very afraid for my family and children,” said the 52-year-old government employee, dressed in the simple white robes worn by hajj pilgrims.

“I raise my hands to God almighty and ask him to solve the problem of Sudan,” he told AFP from Mecca’s Grand Mosque, the world’s largest.

Fighting since mid-April between Sudan’s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has claimed more than 2,000 lives.

It has largely been concentrated in greater Khartoum and in Darfur, a vast region on Sudan’s western border with Chad.

The conflict has plunged Sudan into chaos, with combatants occupying homes, looting properties and committing other abuses.

Artillery “shells fell inside my courtyard... severely damaging my house”, Kabashi said.

Travellers from around the world have been pouring into the modernised airport in Saudi Arabia’s coastal city of Jeddah before Hajj rituals begin on Sunday night.

But pilgrims from Sudan are mostly arriving by boat because Khartoum’s airport — the country’s main aviation hub — has been put out of service by the deadly fighting.

To make it to Mecca, Kabashi risked a more than two-day road trip to Port Sudan in the east. There he boarded a ship that took him across the Red Sea to Jeddah, a journey that lasted nearly two more days.

Kabashi, who has performed Hajj once before, was accompanied by his friend, Ahmed Jaber, who was making the pilgrimage for the first time.

Jaber, a 62-year-old merchant, said he paid more than $4,300 in fees and had been preparing for months for the Hajj — one of the five pillars of Islam which must be undertaken by all Muslims with the means at least once in their lives.

He thought his loved ones would be the main subject of his prayers, but “now I do not only pray for my family, I pray for all Sudanese,” he said, fighting back tears.

“We only dream of peace.”

Almost 600,000 people have fled Sudan for neighbouring countries, the International Organisation for Migration says.

And more than two million are displaced inside Sudan, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Those who have made it to Mecca walk in groups, their country’s flag printed on their white robes.

For math’s teacher Haram Ali, arriving in the holy city meant being able to relax for the first time in months.

“I am mentally at ease and I pray for peace for all Sudanese so that they too can feel the same comfort,” said the 49-year-old, calling her pilgrimage “a gift from God”.

“I have recovered from the fatigue of Sudan,” she said, raising her hands to pray as tears streamed from her eyes.

Standing nearby, Maha Abdullah, a 50-year-old housewife, said “the situation is difficult” back home.

“It needs God’s intervention to change things.”