Flydubai said its flights to and from Israel would be suspended while the investigation takes place and urged all parties \u201cto refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts\u201d.<\/p>\n
The incident \u2013 which began when one pilot stabbed another on the flight deck<\/a> in an apparent attempt to take control of the aircraft \u2013 is under investigation. The flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv had more than 170 people on board, most of them from Israel.<\/p>\n In what have been hailed as acts of tremendous bravery<\/a>, several passenger rushed the cockpit of the flight and wrestled the controls from the alleged attacker even as the plane descended sharply, managing to eventually taking control and stabilising the plane before making an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n Map of flight path<\/a><\/p>\n Netanyahu, Israel\u2019s prime minister, told Fox News host Sean Hannity: \u201cWe\u2019ll get to the root of \u2060this attacker, whether he had accomplices\u201d but cautioned that it was \u201ctoo early to say\u201d when asked whether there was any indication of Iranian involvement.<\/p>\n The pilot accused of carrying out the stabbing was being questioned by Saudi authorities, the Israeli prime minister said, adding that he expected he would soon be taken to the UAE, where the flight took off from. Netanyahu said earlier that he had spoken with the UAE\u2019s president, who agreed that Israel would join the interrogation of the suspect.<\/p>\n Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to reporters, said the attacker was an Omani national, but there was no comment from Oman or the UAE.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s foreign ministry later briefed its diplomats around the world that the incident was an \u201cattempted terrorist attack against Israelis, the United Arab Emirates<\/a>, and the Abraham Accords,\u201d referring to the deal that normalised relations between the two countries in 2020.<\/p>\n But on Wednesday evening Donald Trump told reporters the incident remained unclear, after he had spoken to Netanyahu. \u201cIt seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack-job, and he stabbed the pilot,\u201d the US president told reporters in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n
![\"Passenger](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1920.jpg\")
Passenger recalls putting pilot in \u2018chokehold\u2019 after stabbing on Israel-bound flight – video<\/p>\n