What happened on board the Flydubai flight bound for Israel

Without interruption, since 2020, Flydubai flights have been departing from Terminal 3 at Dubai Airport bound for Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. ‘Without interruption’ means that even after 7 October, when many airlines were cancelling direct flights to Israel, this Emirati airline never stopped operating the route, ensuring stability in an unstable situation. Yesterday, a Flydubai aircraft narrowly avoided crashing after the Omani co-pilot stabbed the Indian captain and was subdued by cabin crew and passengers who managed to storm the cockpit. It so happened that Emirati and Israeli passengers joined forces to fight off the co-pilot, who was armed with a knife and presumably ready to crash the plane – though it is still unclear what target on the ground he intended to hit. They held him at bay until they landed at the nearest airport, which was in Saudi Arabia.

The aircraft had taken off from Dubai at 5.05 Italian time (7.05 in the Emirates); preliminary flight data showed ‘extreme fluctuations’, with drastic drops and sudden climbs at unusual speeds. A couple of hours later, the generic emergency code was transmitted, followed by the code signalling ‘unlawful interference’ – a possible hijacking. It will take some time before every single moment on board the aircraft can be reconstructed, but whilst the codes were being transmitted and changed, and as the aircraft lost altitude, a struggle was taking place on board to thwart an alleged attack aimed at causing the aircraft to crash with 174 passengers on board – many of whom were Israeli – and seven crew members. The incident is being interpreted as an attack on Israel and on the Abraham Accords – the new framework envisaged for the Middle East, which began in 2020 precisely with the normalisation of relations between Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi – and which some do not want, oppose and are attempting to halt. Among the opponents are the Islamic Republic of Iran and terrorist groups such as Hamas, which, on 7 October 2023, after massacring and kidnapping Israelis in kibbutzim in the south of the country, stated that its pogrom was also intended to halt those revolutionary relations that were changing the face of the region. The Flydubai aircraft subsequently landed in Saudi Arabia, at Tabuk Airport: the Israeli passengers were treated by Saudi medical staff and then flown home to Israel.

During the attack, it was the Israeli passengers who subdued the assailant—a reaction that only a population in a state of perpetual alert could muster. They filmed videos while on board; blood can be seen on their faces, on their clothes and in the cabin. Once the plane had landed at Tabuk Airport, the attacker was handed over to the police, and the Saudis were the first to question him. In such a context, it is highly unlikely that there were no direct contacts between the Israelis and the Saudis – Riyadh is one of the most important pillars of the Abraham Accords, according to many the most valuable – and yesterday, in the contacts that likely took place, it emerged that relations are more advanced than the two countries wish to show, as was the case with the Saudis’ refusal to allow Israeli aircraft into their airspace, as initially requested by Jerusalem, to facilitate the repatriation of the Israeli passengers. Building the new Middle East remains a complex task; there is still a vast gulf between covert contacts and what is out in the open – such as the entry of the Israeli Air Force into Saudi airspace would have been. Covert dealings continue to be permissible and supported, and this is precisely what Hamas sought to prevent; even this level of contact is not accepted by Tehran.

Pieces of the puzzle are missing; statements and accounts have appeared in a fragmented manner in the Israeli press, but the image of the aircraft in a nosedive and the blood on the passengers’ bodies shows that Israel remains a target for attacks and sabotage. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first among the authorities to speak out, stating that Israel was treating the incident as a terrorist attack. This remains the main line of inquiry, which the Shin Bet and the Mossad are also investigating. With the commemorations for 7 October just a few days away, in a war against the Islamic Republic of Iran that has never truly ended, a new Middle East is taking shape, albeit with great difficulty. And it is a risky process.