The families of Palestinian martyrs arrived Friday for the Haj as guests of the Saudi government.

The first group of families of Palestinian martyrs arrived for Haj on Friday at King Abdulaziz International Airport.

The group consists of 500 pilgrims, half of the number invited by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman. The second group arrives Saturday. King Salman had charted two private planes to transport the pilgrims.

Mohammed Joudah Al-Nahal, supervisor of the pilgrims and a member of the Martyrs Foundation of Palestine, thanked King Salman for his generosity. The Palestinians would not have been able to perform Haj without the Saudi government’s support, he said.

Nahal said the pilgrims from Gaza traveled through the Rafah border crossing, which was opened specially for them on Thursday, and then boarded planes at Cairo International Airport for their trip to Jeddah.

Minister of Islamic Affairs Saleh bin Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, who heads the Haj guest program, thanked the king for strengthening ties with the Palestinian people by making it easy for them to perform Haj.

Earlier, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) denied reports that its airports would handle direct flights from Israel this Haj season. GACA spokesman Khaled Al-Khaibari said there would be no direct flights from Occupied Palestine to Saudi airports carrying Haj pilgrims.

He said Palestinian pilgrims would be transported from Egyptian or Jordanian airports. They would also travel to Makkah and Madinah by road through Jordan, he said.

Al-Khaibari issued the denial after reports appeared in Israeli media saying there would be direct flights between Israel and Saudi Arabia for the first time transporting Haj pilgrims.