The rescue flight carrying passengers from flydubai flight FZ1073 landed at Ben-Gurion Airport on Wednesday after taking off from Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk Airport, with the Saudi airport saying that all passengers from the original flight involved in an earlier hijacking attempt had boarded the rescue flight.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Transportation Minister Miri Regev arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport to welcome the passengers, while Magen David Adom teams stood by alongside airport medical teams to provide any necessary medical care.
An MDA spokesperson said later on Wednesday that a 51-year-old male passenger with a mild upper body wound was transported to a hospital.
Netanyahu embraced one of the passengers involved in the altercation onboard flight FZ1073, with footage of the meeting showing the passenger still wearing his bloodstained T-shirt.
Some Israeli passengers initially refused to board the rescue flight arranged for them by flydubai after the attempted hijacking of flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv earlier on Wednesday.
A source told The Jerusalem Post that the passengers in question said they would not board a flight that is not operated by an Israeli aircraft amid reports that the pilot suspected of attempting to hijack flight FZ1073 was of Omani origin.
Of flight FZ1073’s 174 passengers, 166 of them were Israelis, according to Israeli media.
The Mossad and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) approved the flydubai rescue flight’s crew later on Wednesday.
Several defense officials insisted that the IAF return the Israeli citizens from Saudi Arabia to Israel. However, the Air Force was denied permission to do so by Saudi authorities later on Wednesday.
“We are interested in an Israeli plane to take us; we don’t want to board the horrible company that put us through hell here today,” one passenger told the Post. “I am not willing to board a flydubai flight unless there is no other choice.”
The passenger added that children were crying amid the ordeal at Tabuk Airport.
Idan Kweller and Reuters contributed to this report.