Hundreds of Palestinians have been barred from leaving Gaza to take part in this year’s Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Turkish news agency Anadolu has reported, due to Israel’s control of the Rafah border crossing. The closure of the Rafah crossing has prevented 2,500 Palestinians from travelling to Saudi Arabia to perform the pilgrimage, a key rite of Islam which all Muslims who are able to must perform at least once in a lifetime, said Ikrami Al-Mudallal, spokesperson for Gaza’s Ministry of Endowments. Pilgrims from Gaza make up roughly a third of the total Palestinian pilgrims attending Hajj thi…