Sept. 30: Flydubai announces suspension of Israel flights amid probe into attempted hijacking

Three Syrian power plants out of service after gas pipeline explosion, state news agency says

Syria’s electricity company says that three power plants had gone offline after an explosion on Wednesday on a gas pipeline at the Tishreen plant halted gas supplies needed to operate them.

Two people were injured in the explosion, the state-run Ekhbariya TV reports.

The Syrian Civil Defense says that a fire that erupted has been brought under control and that it has moved on to the cooling-down phase.

East Jerusalem Palestinian says bystanders, Israeli cops watched him being attacked by Haredi mob and didn’t act

Ahmad al-Husseini is interviewed by Channel 13 on September 30, 2026. (Screen capture/Channel 13)

A Palestinian man from East Jerusalem recounts his assault by an ultra-Orthodox mob outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate earlier this week.

Ahmad al-Husseini’s assault was livestreamed on social media, with the person filming the incident heard declaring in delight, “Wow, they’re f**cking up an Arab.”

“Nobody helped me — not soldiers, not police, not bystanders. Nobody tried to push away the attackers, to pick me up, to take me over to the side,” the 66-year-old Husseini laments during a Channel 13 interview.

התקיפה של האיש המבוגר הערבי היא אחד הסיפורים נוראיים. בנאליות של גזענות שבה תקפו אותו זועקת לשמיים, גם הטיפול של הרשויות. הערב: פגשנו את אחמד אל חוסייני, הערבי המבוגר שתועד עובר לינץ׳ אתמול בבוקר בשער שכם, מספר: אני קיבלתי מכות מעשרות אנשים, ואף אחד, לא שוטרים לא לוחמי משמר הגבול… pic.twitter.com/YjjBo9B7TO

— Yossi Eli (@Yossi_eli) September 30, 2026

He was hospitalized briefly with fractures to his ribs.

Channel 13 says police only agreed to open up an investigation into the incident after Husseini filed a formal complaint.

No arrests have been made thus far, even though the assault was caught on video.

Settler filmed pepper-spraying 90-year-old Palestinian during raid of West Bank village; no arrests reported

An Israeli settler was filmed pepper-spraying a 90-year-old Palestinian during a raid on the central West Bank village of al-Mughayyir earlier today.

The Jameel Al-Na’asan, who holds American citizenship, was evacuated to a nearby hospital for treatment, Palestinian media reports.

There are no reports of any arrests made, which are highly rare in such instances of settler violence.

A video shows the moment Israeli settler terrorists pepper-sprayed an elderly Palestinian man in the village of Al-Mughayyir in the West Bank.

Barbarians. pic.twitter.com/j25BJZSVtI

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) September 30, 2026

مصادر محلية: إصابة الحاج جميل النعسان "أبو جهاد" إثر اعتداء مسـ توطنين عليه ورشّ غاز الفلفل في وجهه قرب "مزرعة مراد" شرقي بلدة المغير شمال شرق رام الله. pic.twitter.com/qcCddMjizC

— فلسطين بوست (@PalpostN) September 30, 2026

El Al says planning to resume flights to Dubai in November following Israeli carrier Arkia says it’s gearing up to resume Dubai route following alleged attempt to crash flydubai plane

Israel’s national carrier El Al says it is preparing to resume flights to Dubai, following an alleged attempt to hijack and crash a flight operated by Emirati low-cost airline flydubai between the two countries.

“El Al announces preparations to resume its operations on the Tel Aviv–Dubai route during the month of November,” the company writes in a statement, noting that an eight-month suspension was due to the war the US and Israel launched against Iran in late February.

Foreign Ministry tells its diplomats that alleged attempt to crash flydubai plane was attack on Abraham Accords

Israel’s Foreign Ministry told its diplomats on Wednesday that an incident on a flight from the UAE to Tel Aviv that forced an emergency landing was an attack aimed at undermining ties between the two allies.

The ministry’s director general, Eden Bar Tal, briefed “all Israeli ambassadors and heads of representations around the world (during which) the message was emphasized that this was an attempted terrorist attack against Israelis, the United Arab Emirates, and the Abraham Accords,” a ministry statement reads.

Doctor aboard attacked flydubai plane recalls treating badly wounded pilot

Dr. Shota Musayev after landing at Ben Gurion Airport on September 30, 2026. (Sharon Wrobel/Times of Israel)

Israeli dentist Dr. Shota Musayev says he was one of the passengers who rushed to the cockpit when he realized that something was wrong on the plane.

“When I heard screaming, after 10 seconds I ran — I didn’t wait,” Musayev tells The Times of Israel upon his arrival at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. “When I came into the cockpit, the pilot was in real bad shape, with heavy bleeding, particularly from his head.”

“I was the only doctor on the plane, and eventually I managed to stop the bleeding and stabilize his blood pressure,” he says.

Musayev, who was traveling back from China, says he provided emergency medical treatment to the badly wounded 39-year-old pilot, which he believes helped save his life.

“These were very hard moments, but together with a few brave people on the plane, we managed to avert a situation that was very close to a disaster,” he recounts. “Now I just want to go home and hug my children.”

India says wounded flydubai pilot in stable condition after emergency landing in Saudi Arabia

India’s Embassy in Saudi Arabia says the wounded Indian pilot who helped prevent the alleged attempt to crash a flydubai plane earlier today is in stable condition.

“Our Embassy in Riyadh and Consulate in Jeddah have been following the health condition of Mr. Smit Machchhar, the brave Indian pilot of Flydubai flight that was diverted to Tabuk today,” the embassy tweets.

“He is admitted in a hospital in Tabuk city in northwest Saudi Arabia and receiving necessary medical attention.”

“A full update on his health is awaited but he is reported to be in stable condition,” the post continues. “We hope that he recovers from his injuries at the earliest. We are in touch with his family and assure them that we will continue to follow up on his health with Saudi authorities and extend all possible assistance for his well-being.”

Our Embassy in Riyadh and Consulate in Jeddah have been following the health condition of Mr Smit Machchhar, the brave Indian pilot of Flydubai flight that was diverted to Tabuk today. He is admitted in a hospital in Tabuk city in northwest Saudi Arabia and receiving necessary…

— India in Saudi Arabia (@IndianEmbRiyadh) September 30, 2026

UK PM says ‘strong indications’ Iran involved in airbase scare

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham says there are “strong indications” that Iran was involved in suspicious activity at a UK airbase that triggered a major security incident.

“There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford,” Burnham tells the BBC in an interview, referring to a weekend bomb scare near the airbase in southwest England, which is used by the US military in its campaign against Tehran.

‘A true hero’: Netanyahu praises Indian pilot for saving lives of 174 people on flydubai plane

Captain Smit Machchhar, captain of a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv that suffered an emergency mid-air, with the copilot subdued after stabbing Machchhar in an alleged attempt to crash the plane full of Israelis, September 30, 2026. (LinkedIn)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hails the Indian flydubai pilot attacked by his copilot on the plane full of Israelis this morning, calling him a “true hero” and wishing him a full recovery from his wounds.

“My salute to the Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar for his extraordinary bravery. Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker — preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster,” Netanyahu writes on X.

“He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals. I wish Captain Machchhar a speedy and full recovery. He is a true hero,” the premier says.

Macron slams antisemitic comments attributed to Le Pen ally

President Emmanuel Macron has condemned “extremely serious and unacceptable” antisemitic comments attributed to French far-right leader Jordan Bardella that have harmed presidential candidate Marine Le Pen’s campaign.

News website Mediapart reported that Bardella made remarks disparaging Jewish people dating back to 2013, when he was a teenager, based on comments in private chats that it said it had authenticated.

Bardella has denied the allegations and denounced “a total war” aiming to “destabilize” the 2027 presidential election campaign of the far-right National Rally (RN) party that he leads.

“The comments that have been reported are obviously extremely serious and unacceptable,” Macron tells reporters in Madrid during a state visit to Spain.

“They do not allow for any kind of comment, they call for the strongest condemnation,” says the centrist president, who will leave office next year after serving two consecutive terms since 2017.

Macron calls on the RN to “clarify” its members’ positions.

Bardella hits back at Macron on X, saying he had marched through Paris in a rally against antisemitism after the October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, unlike the president.

A poll published on Monday suggested Le Pen would win the first round of next year’s election and defeat her challenger in the second round, which would send shockwaves throughout Europe.

In that scenario, Bardella, 31, would be tapped to be her prime minister.

Le Pen says Bardella has her “total confidence” and slammed opponents for doing “absolutely anything — including the most disgusting things — to try to derail this momentum” ahead of the vote.

Flydubai passenger hails ‘miracles’ of heroic Israelis and off-duty pilots aboard attacked plane

Lital Shahar with her four daughters after arriving at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport on a flydubai rescue flight, on September 30, 2026. (Sharon Wrobel/Times of Israel)

Lital Shahar, a passenger on the flydubai plane that landed safely this evening in Tel Aviv, says two miracles saved her life along with the lives of her four girls and many of the Israelis aboard.

“It was so scary to death on the plane. I felt sick. There are no words to describe what we experienced. Imagine I’m a mother and had my four girls next to me,“ Shahar from Givat Shmuel tells The Times of Israel. “We were sitting fairly toward the front in row 10, so we were very close and could hear people screaming that there was a stabbing.”

“There were two miracles — that Israelis were on the plane who heroically went into the cockpit… and that there were off-duty pilots onboard who could land the plane in Saudi Arabia,” Shahar recounts with great relief.

Shahar expresses her gratitude for the warm welcome that passengers received at Saudi Arbai’s Tabuk airport after the flydubai flight succeeded in making an emergency landing.

“We immediately felt safe because they were really amazing and generous,” says Shahar. “So many soldiers and nurses and doctors. They all spoke English and helped us.”

“They didn’t stop saying, ‘You are in a safe place now,’” says Shahar.

Trump hails Iraq withdrawal as ‘victory’ for US

US President Donald Trump hails the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces from Iraq on Wednesday as a “victory” for Washington, despite fears that it will embolden pro-Iran armed factions.

“This Day is a victory for the United States, a victory for Iraq, and a decisive victory over ISIS,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network.

Trump says Iraq now has a “wonderful” prime minister and adds: “I had a choice to stay or to leave, and felt, without question, that it was time for America to go home!”

pic.twitter.com/l3YUeIu3iV

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 30, 2026

Woman among 7 killed in IDF’s Gaza strikes; army says it targeted Hamas terrorist

The death toll from two Israeli strikes in Gaza today has climbed from four to seven, according to health officials from the Strip.

In Gaza City, an Israeli airstrike on an apartment killed one woman, wounded her husband and several others, medics say.

The Israeli military says the strike targeted a Hamas terrorist who was planning to execute attacks against its forces.

Medics said another Israeli airstrike on a vehicle killed at least four people and wounded 14 others in the Tel Al-Hawa neighbourhood, in Gaza City, while a strike near a mosque in Khan Younis, south of the enclave, killed a local journalist, Mohammad Al-Najar, and wounded others.

Later on Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike killed one person near Qarara town, in the southern Gaza Strip, medics say, taking the day’s death toll to at least seven.

FM Sa’ar speaks with Emirati counterpart, both agree to cooperate against ‘extremist elements’

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar spoke a short while ago with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan about the alleged attempted hijacking and crashing of the flydubai plane this morning, the Foreign Ministry says.

During the “warm” conversation, the two expressed “a mutual determination to strengthen relations between the countries at all levels and to cooperate against extremist elements seeking to harm security and undermine stability in the region,” the ministry says in a statement.

Sa’ar updated his Emirati counterpart on the return of the Israeli passengers, and Nayhan told him he was pleased that they all had returned home safely, the ministry adds.

Huckabee: US even more proud to call Israel a ‘true partner’ after Israelis ‘heroism in the face of terror’

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee says, “We thank God and breathe a deep sigh of relief that the passengers of flydubai FZ1073 are now safely in
Israel.

“Their heroism in the face of terror averted catastrophe,” he tweets. “Israel endures because its people refuse to surrender. And tonight we are even more proud to call this extraordinary nation our true partner.”

Flydubai captain seriously wounded by his copilot identified as Indian national

The flydubai captain who was attacked by his copilot while flying a plane full of Israelis has been identified as Indian national Smit Machchhar.

Machchhar was stabbed by his copilot, who is said to be an Omani national.

Machchhar lives in Dubai and has 13 years of experience as a pilot, including over four with flydubai, The Times of India reports.

After being attacked by his copilot, who allegedly tried to hijack and crash the plane, Machchhar was treated by Dr. Shota Musayev, an Israeli dentist on board.

نصلّي من أجل الشفاء التام والعاجل للطيار الهندي سميث ماتشهار، الذي ساهم بشجاعته في إحباط الهجوم على طائرة فلاي دبي المتجهة إلى إسرائيل 🇮🇱🇮🇳

Praying for the full and speedy recovery of Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, who bravely helped avert the attack on the Flydubai flight bound… pic.twitter.com/wEdn6PyOEc

— Lorena Khateeb | لورينا خطيب (@kh_lorena) September 30, 2026

Report: Israel currently believes flydubai pilot acted as ‘lone wolf’

Israel has no current indication that the attacker on this morning’s flydubai flight was directed by Iran or another organized entity, Channel 12 reports.

It appears the attacker was acting as a “lone wolf,” the network says.

Netanyahu spoke with MBZ, set to speak with Trump following flydubai attack

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed following the alleged attempt by the copilot of the flydubai airplane to hijack and crash the plane earlier today, according to Hebrew media.

He is also set to speak with US President Donald Trump on the matter within the next hour, an Israeli official tells Channel 12.

Israel to ramp up pilot checks after flydubai hijacking, crash attempt

Israel is set to ramp up security checks on pilots flying into the country, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office says, after a copilot on a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv had stabbed the pilot and attempted to crash the plane.

The incident has sharpened questions about how pilots flying in and out of Israel and around the conflict-hit Middle East are vetted and what sorts of security protocols they face, according to government officials and aviation analysts.

Israeli officials frequently warn of potential threats targeting Jews and Israelis around the world. Antisemitism has increased globally in recent years, including violent and sometimes deadly attacks targeting Jews. So far, no motive has been given for the co-pilot’s attack.

“Every pilot that is going to be flying into Israel, we are going to know the pilots’ identities, know who they are, and do some type of security check,” Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office, tells Reuters.

He says Netanyahu had instructed authorities to “ramp up security” on flights to Israel operated by Israeli and on non-Israeli carriers.

“Anywhere that an Israeli is going to be flying into Israel. Our job right now is to do our best — even if they’re not on Israeli airlines — to make sure that those security procedures are much higher,” Spielman says.

The UAE civil aviation regulator, the GCAA, does not respond to a Reuters request for comment on how its pilots are vetted.

Israeli passenger recounts to PM how he subdued flydubai attacker, helped stabilize plane

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Yaniv Harun, one of the Israelis who helped subdue a flydubai copilot who allegedly sought to crash a plane full of Israelis, on the passengers' return to Ben Gurion Airport on September 30, 2026. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

An Israeli passenger who helped subdue the attacker aboard this morning’s flydubai flight recounts to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu how he entered the cockpit, dragged the suspected assailant away from the controls and then helped stabilize the nosediving aircraft.

Meeting Netanyahu at Ben Gurion Airport after returning to Israel, the passenger, Yaniv Hayun, says he and another man forced their way into the cockpit, where the wounded pilot was lying near the door.

“When I went in, I saw the terrorist on the controls, between the two seats. There were no pilots in the seats,” he recounts. “I grabbed the terrorist, put him in a hold, and first of all pulled him outside,” he says.

Asked by Netanyahu what the alleged attacker had been doing, Hayun replies: “He was trying to destroy the controls in order to disable the plane.”

The passenger says he called other Israelis on the flight to help hold back the man before returning to the cockpit as the aircraft was tilting sharply.

“I jumped back in there, grabbed the controls, started pulling the controls,” he says, explaining that he pulled backward and quipping that he knew what to do because “I watch Mayday,” referring to a Canadian documentary television program that examines air crashes.

“The plane started leveling out a little more, and then the pilot told me he was taking over from there,” Hayun says.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at Ben-Gurion International Airport with Yaniv, the passenger who burst into the cockpit on the flight from Dubai to Israel.

Photos: Kobi Gideon (GPO) pic.twitter.com/PcCNzKLUKj

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 30, 2026

51-year-old with minor upper body trauma evacuated to hospital after landing on flydubai rescue flight

One of the passengers from the flydubai flight that arrived from Saudi Arabia is being hospitalized, Magen David Adom says.

The ambulance service says it examined all of the passengers, who were on an earlier Dubai-Tel Aviv flight that landed in Saudi Arabia after the copilot allegedly stabbed the pilot in a suspected attempt to crash the aircraft.

One passenger, a 51-year-old man, is being taken to a hospital in good condition after suffering trauma to his upper body, MDA says.

Israeli who helped subdue flydubai attacker says headphones were used to tie him up

Tzvika Manes is interviewed by Channel 12 on his return to Israel after helping subdue a flydubai copilot who tried to hijack and crash a plane full of Israelis on September 30, 2026. (Screenshot/Channel 12)

Tzvika Manes, who was one of three Israelis who subdued the flydubai copilot who allegedly tried to hijack and crash a plane full of Israelis, recalls the dramatic incident earlier today in an interview with Channel 12.

Manes says his wife had been accompanying his young daughter to the bathroom at the front of the plane when she heard screams and a struggle taking place in the cockpit.

Manes’s wife then got the attention of a flydubai flight attendant and told them to go into the cockpit to check what was going on.

At this point, the pilot fell out of the cockpit door as his copilot was stabbing him, Manes says.

The plane began to sink dramatically toward the ground and passengers “went flying.”

Manes says he pulled his daughter out of the bathroom before heading to engage the attacker.

Two other Israeli passengers joined him, with one of them, Yaniv Hayun, managing to take hold of the controls and pull the plane back upward.

It took roughly 20-25 minutes to subdue the attacker, with the three Israelis using corded headphones to tie him up.

A doctor on board separately helped stabilize the wounded pilot.

Manes calls the incident a “horror film,” saying that there were moments when he thought he would not come out alive.

He recalls his daughters screaming “We don’t want to die,” as the plane nosedived — “something traumatic for any father to hear.

“It was a very difficult scenario… but because we’re Israelis, we responded quickly,” he tells Channel 12.

Flydubai passengers filmed cheering and singing as their rescue flight touches down at Ben Gurion Airport

Footage taken by one of the Israelis on the flydubai rescue flight shows passengers cheering and singing as their plane touches down at Ben Gurion Airport after their earlier flight made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia due to an apparent attempt to hijack and crash the plane.

"והשם יתברך תמיד אוהב אותי!": נוסעי טיסת החילוץ של 'פליי דובאי' חוגגים את החזרה ארצה pic.twitter.com/T7hM3W9LAk

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) September 30, 2026

There are reportedly 174 passengers, 166 of them Israeli, on the rescue flight, which departed Saudi Arabia after six hours in Saudi Arabia. Some were given medical treatment in the terminal.

Some of the passengers were unwilling to board this second flydubai plane for the journey. Israel had wanted to send its own planes to bring them home, but the Saudi authorities refused.

Mossad officials approved the plane’s flight crew, and the passengers then agreed to board, Channel 12 reports.

Inside the Ben Gurion Airport terminal, the passengers and the relatives meeting them sing, “The people of Israel live,” amid hugs, cheers and clapping.

Saudi Arabia reportedly turned down Israeli request to allow its planes to pick up flydubai passengers

Saudi Arabia turned down a request by Israel to allow its planes to bring back Israeli passengers from a flydubai flight that made an emergency landing in the kingdom, two security sources say.

The request was made to allow Israeli military planes to bring back Israelis from Saudi Arabia, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel, the sources say.

Saudi Arabia’s government media office does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Israeli Air Force was preparing to send Super Hercules planes to pick up Israeli passengers, one of the sources says.

The passengers instead were ferried back to Israel on another flydubai flight that just landed.

The co-pilot of a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv tried to crash the plane after stabbing the pilot, but passengers then held him down while other pilots landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday.

Flydubai rescue flight takes off from Saudi Arabia to Israel

The flydubai rescue flight taking passengers from Saudi Arabia to Ben Gurion International airport has taken off, says Israel Airports Authority.

It is expected to land in 45 minutes, in a rare direct flight from Saudi Arabia to Israel.

Saudi medics seen caring for Israeli flydubai passengers after landing at Tabuk airport

A clip being widely shared on social media shows Saudi medical personnel offering treatment to Israeli passengers at the Tabuk International Airport after their plane made an emergency landing due to an alleged attempt to hijack and crash the plane.

مسافرون إسرائيليون يتلقون الرعاية من طاقم سعودي بعد هبوطهم في المملكة العربية السعودية.

الإنسانية تجمعنا، وربما تفتح الطريق للسلام ? 🇮🇱🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/HMFJHodCUL

— Lorena Khateeb | لورينا خطيب (@kh_lorena) September 30, 2026

EU aviation agency issues Saudi airspace advisory after Houthi attacks

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued an advisory to airlines over Saudi airspace, according to a bulletin posted on its website, following a recent increase in attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthis.

The latest advisory on Saudi Arabia does not mention today’s incident involving a diverted flydubai airliner, and EASA says it will continue to monitor the situation to assess whether there is an increase or decrease in risk for EU airlines in the country.

The EASA, in a separate bulletin, now recommends that flights not operate within the airspace of Jordan at all altitudes and flight levels, a change from a previous advisory to exercise caution.

Women’s Zionist group holds panel on Hamas sexual violence at UN crime congress in Abu Dhabi

The Women's International Zionist Organization convenes a panel on the sidelines of the United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Abu Dhabi on accountability for sexual violence committed by Hamas during the terror group's October 7, 2023, massacre and against hostages in captivity, on September 30, 2026. (Courtesy)

The Women’s International Zionist Organization convenes a panel in Abu Dhabi on accountability for sexual violence committed by Hamas during the terror group’s October 7, 2023, massacre and against hostages in captivity, according to a press release from the global volunteer movement.

The discussion — held as an official side event of the quinquennial United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice — focused on documenting and preserving evidence for future prosecutions, countering denial and disinformation, and the possible use of AI to preserve survivors’ testimony, the press release says.

The panel included Israeli legal experts as well as a Ukrainian lawyer specializing in wartime sexual violence.

WIZO President Anat Vidor says the panel reflects the organization’s efforts to use its UN status to bring evidence of Hamas’s crimes before international forums, calling the event in the Arab capital an example of “alternative diplomacy.”

After hours of silence, flydubai says motive behind incident on Israel-bound plane still being probed

After hours of silence, Emirati carrier flydubai confirms that an “altercation occurred in the flight deck” on this morning’s flight that took off from Dubai International Airport to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, and had to be diverted to Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia.

“The aircraft was successfully secured by on-duty flydubai crew traveling on the flight, who diverted and landed the aircraft safely at Tabuk Airport,” says a flydubai spokesperson. “At this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation.”

“We urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts,” the flydubai spokesperson adds.

Flydubai reiterates that “all passengers and crew are safe and accounted for.”

“We have deployed two replacement aircraft to Tabuk to relieve the passengers and crew,” the flydubai spokesperson says. “This incident has no impact on other scheduled operations across the flydubai network.”

Netanyahu holds security meeting after flydubai incident

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a security consult with National Security Adviser Shmuel Ben Ezra and Military Secretary Maj. Gen. Guy Markizeno in his Jerusalem office on September 30, 2026. (GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently in a situational assessment with his security chiefs, says his office.

The Prime Minister’s Office releases a photo of the premier speaking with National Security Adviser Shmuel Ben Ezra and Military Secretary Maj. Gen. Guy Markizeno.

Former Israeli envoy to UAE cautions against rush to blame flydubai after alleged attempt to hijack and crash plane

Against the backdrop of Transportation Minister Miri Regev’s call for Israel to suspend flydubai flights, Jerusalem’s former ambassador to the UAE urges caution.

“Flydubai and Etihad are the only two airlines in the world that continued flying to Israel even during the most difficult times,” Amir Hayek tweets.

“The UAE and the airline deserve for us to set aside speculation and allow them to thoroughly investigate what actually happened. I trust them,” he says.

Lapid accuses PM-linked ‘diplomatic source’ of falsely linking security briefing to flydubai incident

Opposition leader Yair Lapid accuses an unnamed diplomatic source, whom he strongly implies is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of lying to Hebrew media about what Lapid was told during a security briefing yesterday, as the two sides clash over whether this morning’s flydubai incident bears out warnings issued by Netanyahu a day earlier.

Netanyahu warned yesterday of possible attacks ahead of the October 27 election, prompting Lapid to demand a security briefing. Afterward, Lapid said he had been presented with no specific new threat. Government allies have since pointed to this morning’s incident as vindicating Netanyahu’s warning, while Lapid insists nothing resembling it was raised during the briefing.

After an unnamed diplomatic source told Channel 12 that, “contrary to Lapid’s claims, the military secretariat informed him yesterday of a significant increase in terrorist activity abroad, on a scale not seen in years,” the opposition leader responds that the warning cited by the source has existed for more than two years and had nothing to do with “planes or anything resembling what happened this morning.”

“The irresponsible ‘diplomatic source’ – wonder who that could be – is lying again,” Lapid writes on X, heavily suggesting that the source is Netanyahu.

“This is the method of this source and his office – another lie and another lie and another lie until everyone gets confused,” Lapid continues, accusing “him” of making “a pathetic attempt to hitch a ride on the heroism of Israelis who prevented a disaster that he – once again – was unprepared for.”

The flight made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after what Israeli officials suspect was an attempt to seize and crash the plane, with witnesses saying a group of Israeli passengers stormed the cockpit, subdued the alleged attacker and stabilized the aircraft.

Opposition figures have accused the government of exploiting the event for political capital and drawn comparisons to the October 7, 2023, invasion, when civilians and local security teams were forced to confront Hamas-led attackers amid the state’s broader security failures, and have argued that here, too, ordinary citizens were left to handle a catastrophe the state failed to prevent.

Katz says flydubai incident was ‘jihadist terrorist attack attempt thwarted by brave Israelis’

Defense Minister Israel Katz says the incident aboard the flydubai plane today “was a jihadist terrorist attack attempt.”

The copilot of the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight allegedly stabbed the pilot in a suspected attempt to crash the aircraft, which later made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

“The grave incident on the flydubai plane was a jihadist terrorist attack attempt, which was thwarted only thanks to the bravery of several Israeli passengers who broke into the cockpit, overpowered the terrorist and, with their own hands, restored control of the plane to another flight crew who was present there,” Katz says in a statement.

“According to the initial information in our possession, the terrorist had one intention: to crash the plane with all its passengers,” he says.

Netanyahu: Saudis interrogating flydubai suspect, we believe he was trying to crash plane

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a video statement on September 30, 2026. (Screen capture/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that evidence indicates that the flydubai pilot who stabbed his fellow pilot intended to crash the plane.

“This morning there was an extremely serious security incident,” says Netanyahu in a video statement from his office, his first public response to the emergency landing.

“Almost all of the passengers on the flight were Israelis,” he continues.

As the plane drew close to Israel, says Netanyahu, “one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and all indications show that he tried to crash the plane along with its passengers.”

He says that he spoke an Israeli passenger: “He told me that the plane went into a dive. He told me that somehow, he managed to break into the cockpit with one of the crew members, and together they managed to stop the pilot while he was attempting to damage the plane’s systems.”

Another crew member then entered the cockpit and managed to stabilize the plane, says Netanyahu.

“We are in continuous contact with the relevant authorities to guarantee the continued safety of the passengers and their safe return home,” says Netanyahu, adding that Israel is also carrying out regular situational assessments.

The Saudis are interrogating the suspect, he says.

He says that he instructed Israel’s security services to take measures to prevent similar attempts in the future.

Netanyahu “salutes the heroes” who “saved many lives and displayed great bravery.”

“They prevented a serious tragedy,” he says.

Passengers on flydubai flight say panicked flight attendants offered little assistance as plane lost control

Asaf and Ofir Shani, who were seated almost all the way in the back of the flydubai plane that fell victim to a copilot’s alleged attempt to hijack and crash the plane, tell Channel 12 that the flight attendants offered little assistance during the incident.

The flydubai flight attendants were foreigners and provided almost no instructions to passengers as the plane began spinning out of control, the Shanis say.

Ofir Shani tells Channel 12 that the intercom didn’t seem to work.

She says that the flight attendants at one point began walking down the aisles, trying to assure passengers that the flight was going to land in Tel Aviv, even though it wasn’t — an emergency landing was made in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Ofir Shani also says that the flight attendants appeared no less panicked than the passengers as the incident unfolded.

Report: Some passengers refusing to board flydubai rescue plane from Tabuk, insisting on Israeli carrier

A passenger from the flydubai plane that conducted an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk airport after an apparent attempt to hijack and crash the plane tells Channel 12 that the rescue plane from the Emirati airline has not yet departed back to Israel, as some passengers aren’t comfortable flying with the same airline.

The Israeli man says passengers are debating whether to wait for an Israeli rescue flight or to board the flydubai rescue plane.

The passenger says no Israeli official has reached out to the passengers.

Iran says it received US response to latest proposal

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks to the media during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, September 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Iran says it has received a US response to its latest proposal to resurrect the collapsed ceasefire in the Gulf, days after President Donald Trump said he had rejected it.

Iran’s allies are celebrating today after Washington withdrew the last of its forces from neighboring Iraq, where 4,500 US troops died in the biggest US war of the century. More than 200,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in chaos unleashed after US forces toppled dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Tehran views the pullout as a victory for its “axis of resistance” of allied armed groups, and a step toward its aim of driving US forces out of the region.

With the US-Israeli war against Iran now entering its eighth month, Iran put forward a proposal last week under which the United States would lift its blockade of Iranian ports and Iran would reopen the disrupted Strait of Hormuz within seven days. Trump said on Sunday he had rejected the proposal, although Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had not received a formal rejection. In a post on X today, an Iranian government spokesperson says Araghchi has conveyed a US response to the Iranian government.

Iran says its plan aims to restore an interim agreement which collapsed weeks after it was signed by Trump and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian in June.

Last week, Qatari mediators shuttled between US and Iranian envoys in New York on the sidelines of a meeting of the United Nations, the first proximity talks between the warring sides since the ceasefire unraveled.

An official briefed on the talks, who is not Iranian and speaks to Reuters on condition of anonymity, says the Qataris briefed Araghchi on the US response on Tuesday when Araghchi stopped off in Doha on his way home from New York. According to the official, the sides largely agree about the steps that are needed but still disagree about the order in which to take them.

Opposition leaders hail flydubai passengers, accuse government of exploiting incident for political gain

B'Yachad party leader Naftali Bennett attends a campaign event on August 20, 2026, in Ramat Hasharon. (Gili Yaari/Flash90)

Opposition leaders praise the Israeli passengers who reportedly intervened during this morning’s incident aboard a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv, while accusing the government and its allies of seeking to exploit the incident for political gain.

Democrats leader Yair Golan praises the passengers, saying their “extraordinary resourcefulness and courage” prevented a major disaster, but has “contempt for the disgraceful attempts by the ‘Hamas is an asset’ government to play cheap politics at the expense of this heroism.”

Government allies have pointed to the incident following Netanyahu’s warning yesterday of unspecified security threats, which Opposition Leader Yair Lapid dismissed at the time as an attempt to score political points. Lapid has since said that nothing resembling this morning’s incident was included in the security assessment he received from Netanyahu.

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman similarly praises the passengers for taking control of the situation under “immense pressure and immediate danger,” while accusing government supporters and political operatives of trying to turn the incident into “political capital.”

“While people were fighting for their lives, they were looking for a way to manufacture spin,” he says, but adds that “nothing is surprising anymore when it comes to [this] government.”

B’Yachad leader Naftali Bennett focuses on the passengers’ bravery, saying: “Where else in the world is there a people whose citizens calmly overpower an armed attacker thousands of meters in the air as the plane is plunging, and save the lives of 180 people? We’re waiting for you at home.”

Expecting chaos in flight schedules, El Al preparing to help Israelis around the world get home after flydubai incident

An El Al plane takes off at Ben Gurion Airport, outside Tel Aviv, August 4, 2026. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

Israel’s flagship carrier El Al is preparing to help Israelis abroad book flights to return home after Transportation Minister Miri Regev urged the government to stop all flydubai flights to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.

Following this morning’s incident aboard a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, in which the pilot was attacked amid an alleged attempt by the copilot to crash the plane, El Al says it received “numerous inquiries from Israelis abroad wishing to return home on El Al flights.”

“El Al will open a dedicated WhatsApp line later today for booking flights from any of its global destinations, including for those who traveled out of Israel with other airlines,” El Al says.

In parallel, the airline is preparing to operate a “special flight from Bangkok to Israel in the coming days to help Israelis currently in Thailand return home on an Israeli carrier.”

El Al shares rose more than 7 percent in afternoon trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange following the flydubai plane incident.

Dubai has become one of the top travel destinations for Israelis with flydubai operating eight daily flights from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport. For many Israelis, Dubai International Airport has become a gateway to Asia, the Far East and the US.

Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk Airport says captain and first officer of flydubai flight both hospitalized

Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk airport announces that the captain and the first officer of the flydubai flight that was rerouted to the kingdom were both injured and have been hospitalized.

The flight that was bound for Tel Aviv in Israel landed at Tabuk airport “at 9:45 a.m. (0645 GMT) and its captain and copilot were found to have injuries and were transported to hospital,” a statement from the company operating the airport says, adding that passengers received the necessary care.

Israeli officials investigating the incident increasingly believe the copilot attacked the captain and attempted to crash the plane.

Lebanese army backtracks, says four wounded in explosion were not hit by Israeli strike

The Lebanese army says that the explosion of an unknown object wounded a soldier and three civilians, after initially saying it was an Israeli strike.

“A soldier and three civilians were wounded in the Nabatieh al-Fawqa area as a result of an explosion while the army was escorting residents to inspect their properties in the area,” the army says in a statement.

“Following investigations and an engineering inspection, it was determined that the incident was caused by the explosion of a suspicious object,” it adds.

The LAF had initially said the soldier and civilians were wounded by an Israeli strike on a military vehicle.

Group of Israelis rescued from north Ethiopia after days of being stuck amid rebel advance

Following “intensive efforts” over the past three days, some 20 Israeli citizens who were stuck in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region amid a rebel advance in the area have been rescued, the Foreign Ministry says.

“The group of Israelis who had become stranded in Lalibela in northern Ethiopia amid the security escalation in the area were evacuated yesterday and today by helicopter,” the ministry says in a statement, saying it worked in continuous coordination with the Israeli embassy in Addis Ababa and the relevant authorities in Ethiopia to do so.

“Helicopters transported the group to a safe area, from which they will continue on to Addis Ababa,” the ministry continues, saying representatives will continue to accompany and assist the group until they arrive there safely.

The incident came after heavy clashes resumed last week between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government, raising fears of a return to the full-blown civil war of 2020-2022, in which an estimated 600,000 people died.

Mossad, Shin Bet, IDF and Transportation Ministry all involved in flydubai probe

Mossad, Shin Bet, the Israel Defense Forces and the Transportation Ministry are all involved in the investigation into the flydubai incident, Kan news reports.

The incident is increasingly looking like an intentional attempt by a crewman to crash the plane.

Families of Israelis aboard flydubai flight anxiously await relatives’ return

Families of Israelis aboard a Flydubai flight diverted to Saudi Arabia this morning after a reported attack in the cockpit wait anxiously at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport for their loved ones to return home, as it remains unclear when and how the passengers will make it back to Israel.

Tehila Ohayon has been waiting at the airport since 9 a.m. for her sister, Miriam, 23, one of the Israelis aboard the flight.

Miriam was heading to Israel for their late brother’s memorial service.

“She said, ‘I can’t return dead,’” Ohayon says of Miriam.

Ohayon has yet to speak directly with Miriam, but her mother has. At first, Ohayon says the news left her and her family holding their breath. They only exhaled once they learned Miriam was safe after landing in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk airport.

Ohayon plans to stay at the airport in Tel Aviv until her sister is back in Israel.

Meanwhile, Elyakim Italie says his son, Almog, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren are also aboard the flight.

Almog Italie spoke to Channel 12 earlier.

Elyakim’s daughter and his one-year-old grandchild were also meant to be on the plane, but took a later flight at the last minute due to overbooking.

Italie says his other son called him three minutes before he reached the airport to meet his family with news that the plane had declared an emergency and turned around.

“I gave him the flight number, and he said, ‘It’s their flight.’ I still didn’t know if my daughter and young grandchild were on there.”

Italie’s daughter and grandchild, who were on the second plane, have since returned safely to Israel, and the three have been reunited. They are now anxiously waiting for the rest of the family to return.

Israeli company wins US defense contract for counter-drone systems

Israel’s Smart Shooter, the developer of AI-powered fire control systems, wins a contract with the US Defense Department worth up to $150 million for the supply of its rifle-mounted counter-drone systems.

As part of the three-year contract with the US Defense Department’s Joint Interagency Task, Smart Shooter will provide counter-drone fire control systems, training, and related services. The contract is part of the so-called Domestic Shield program to support and protect the US army, navy, air force, and marine corps, from evolving drone threats.

Smart Shooter’s shares jump 25 percent in early afternoon Tel Aviv trading.

“Domestic Shield is about giving defenders the tools to stop small, fast-moving drones before they can harm forces, bases, and critical assets,” says Smart Shooter co-founder and CEO Michal Mor. “This award, and the framework it provides for future orders, marks a significant milestone in the expansion of our activity in the US defense market.”

Passenger says Saudis treating passengers well after emergency landing

Almog Italie, a passenger on a flydubai plane that landed at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia, September 30, 2026. (Channel 12 screenshot)

Almog Italie, who was on the flydubai plane and is currently waiting in Saudi Arabia for a flight home, tells Channel 12 that passengers are being treated well by Saudi staff at Tabuk Airport.

“They’re performing in the best way,” he says. “They’re taking care of us. At the moment, we’re relying on them.”

“In Saudi Arabia we trust!” he adds with a smile, in English.

Ben Gvir says alleged flydubai attack shows Israel must intensify regional campaigns

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, leader of Otzma Yehudit, arrives for a hearing at the Central Elections Committee at the Knesset in Jerusalem, September 23, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says this morning’s alleged attack aboard a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv shows that Israel must intensify its military campaigns across the region.

“Thank God and the heroic passengers, but Israel’s security doctrine must be taken to the next level,” Ben Gvir says, adding that “we must not stop and must continue until achieving total victory in Iran, Lebanon, Gaza and Judea and Samaria,” referring to the biblical name for the West Bank.

The circumstances of this morning’s incident remain unclear, but people on board the plane have said that passengers intervened to thwart an apparent attempt by one of the pilots to crash the plane, which was carrying some 180 Israelis. The flight was diverted and landed safely in Saudi Arabia.

There is no indication at this point that the incident was guided by any organization or state.

“The naive belief that our enemies cherish life and should be shown mercy received another reminder this morning,” the Otzma Yehudit leader adds. “Terrorism is an evil with which no agreement should be reached other than defeating it and wiping it off the face of the earth.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich similarly says that “anyone who tried to bring down a plane and murder 180 Israelis should pay as though they had murdered them — as should any country or terrorist organization that sent them.”

Meanwhile, Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz says its “still too early to know the sequence of events” aboard the flight, while praising the passengers’ “resourcefulness and courage” in the face of danger.

Footage from flydubai flight shows alarm in cabin moments after plane took plunge

Videos taken by passengers aboard the flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv shows the moments after the plane took a rapid plunge.

Two hours and fifteen minutes into the flight, the Boeing 737 MAX suddenly took a sharp nosedive, dropping from 34,000 to around 17,000 feet in under a minute as it sped up from 411 knots to nearly 600.

Footage taken by a passenger aboard the flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv after the plane took a rapid plunge. pic.twitter.com/O3vd5644pL

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 30, 2026

The plane recovered slightly for several seconds, reaching 21,725 feet, before dropping sharply again, this time to just under 15,000 feet.

Over the next hour, the plane failed to maintain a steady altitude, though it remained around 15,000 feet, indicating it was being controlled by hand rather than autopilot.

Another video clip taken by a passenger aboard the flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv shows the plane taking a rapid plunge.

According to flight tracking data, the plane dropped more than 14,000 feet in under 30 seconds. pic.twitter.com/wtiqBYhEw1

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 30, 2026

Lapid says nothing ‘resembling’ flydubai incident mentioned in Netanyahu security briefing

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says this morning’s possible attack aboard a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv was not among the threats raised in a security briefing he received from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night, after Netanyahu said yesterday there were indications Israel’s enemies could attempt attacks ahead of the October 27 election.

Lapid, who demanded an urgent security briefing following Netanyahu’s warning and later met with the premier, says no such threat was raised during their meeting.

“Nothing even remotely resembling this morning’s plane incident came up in the security briefing with the prime minister last night. Nothing similar, nothing reminiscent of it, not even a hint,” the opposition leader says, after some on the right claimed the prime minister was justified in raising the alarm in light of this morning events.

Opposition figures had accused the prime minister yesterday of creating alarm without justification, with some claiming he sought to undermine the coming election. Security officials told Hebrew meda outlets they had no knowledge of a specific attack threat. After meeting Netanyahu last night, Lapid accused the premier of unnecessarily alarming the public and using security issues for election campaigning.

“The whole spin that the mouthpieces are pushing now only proves what was already clear yesterday — that once again they are trying to play cheap politics at the expense of Israel’s security. An irresponsible bunch,” Lapid says.

Democrats chairman Yair Golan praises the passengers, saying their “extraordinary resourcefulness and courage” prevented a major disaster, while accusing the government of trying to exploit the incident for political gain.

“I have contempt for the disgraceful attempts by the ‘Hamas is an asset’ government to play cheap politics at the expense of this heroism,” Golan says.

Erroneous reports claim second flydubai flight changes course; is en route to Tel Aviv, as expected

A second flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv is continuing its course as usual, contrary to erroneous Hebrew-language media reports saying the plane was turning around.

The mistaken reporting appears to stem from a glitch on flight-tracking sites saying that flight FDB1081 was being diverted to Dubai.

However, the plane has not issued any emergency signals, and tracking data shows it flying on its course to Tel Aviv without any anomalies, and not returning to the UAE.

Passenger, moments after fight on plane: ‘There was a hijacking, we’ve subdued the terrorists, we need help’

In a video moments after the fight aboard the flydubai plane, a passenger with blood on his face tells the camera, “We’re here during the hijacking of an airplane. At this point we’ve subdued the terrorists, we’re approaching landing. Whoever is hearing me, we need help.

“We’re landing in Tabuk, apparently in Saudi Arabia. An unknown, unfamiliar area. On the plane, everybody is safe and sound, other than the pilot. We need help.”

https://x.com/newsisrael13/status/2105236716781191514

The plane has since landed safely and the passengers are all well. Unconfirmed reports say the copilot — said in some reports to be an Omani national who had worked for the company for a year — stabbed the captain and attempted to crash the plane, before being subdued by passengers.

Palestinian media reports 4 dead in Israeli strike on Gaza minibus

Palestinian media reports at least four dead in an Israeli strike targeting a minibus in Gaza City a short while ago.

🎥 فيديو | شهداء ومصابون جراء استهدف طيران الاحتلال حافلة صغيرة قرب مول كيرفور في حي تل الهوى، جنوب غربي مدينة غزة. pic.twitter.com/41dpkEyNyS

— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) September 30, 2026

The IDF tells The Times of Israel that the strike targeted a terror operative, with further details to be provided later.

Video shows passengers clapping and singing as flydubai plane lands in Saudi Arabia

Hebrew media outlets have published a video purportedly from the flydubai plane as it landed in Saudi Arabia, showing passengers celebrating, clapping and singing as the aircraft comes down for a landing following a violent altercation in the cockpit.

״עוד אבינו חי״: הנוסעים במטוס ברגעי הנחיתה pic.twitter.com/wALLq5AluW

— ישראל היום (@IsraelHayomHeb) September 30, 2026

Reports: Israeli officials increasingly believe flydubai emergency was terror

Channel 12 and Ynet report that there is a growing assessment in Israel that the emergency on board the flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was an attempted terror attack, though it still can’t say so definitively.

The flight landed in Saudi Arabia after a violent altercation in the cockpit.

Intensive conversations are taking place in Israel right now about the flight, Channel 12 says.

Unconfirmed reports in Hebrew media say the copilot, an Omani, is being investigated on the ground by Saudi authorities, after allegedly stabbing the captain, an Emirati, and attempting to crash the plane.

At the same time, other options are being looked into, including a mental health episode that was not nationalistic in nature.

There has not yet been an official statement on the circumstances of the incident by Israeli, Saudi or Emirati authorities.

High Court to hear cases against bans on Arab parties, candidates tomorrow

Balad party head MK Sami Abu Shehadeh in Jerusalem, October 6, 2022 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The High Court of Justice will hold hearings tomorrow on the Central Elections Committee’s decisions last week to disqualify the two Arab parties — Ra’am and the Joint List — as well as Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh and Hadash MK Ofer Cassif from running in the October 27 election.

The cases will be heard by an expanded panel of nine justices, beginning with Abu Shehadeh at 10 a.m., followed by Cassif at 11:30 a.m., the Joint List at 2 p.m. and Ra’am at 3:30 p.m.

CEC decisions to disqualify individual candidates require Supreme Court approval, while bans on party slates can be appealed to the court, which has historically set a high bar for disqualification and repeatedly overturned such decisions by the committee.

Most of the rulings are expected to be overturned with the exception of Abu Shehadeh, whose case is less clear-cut. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara backed his disqualification over an article he published a day after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that she said expressed support for armed struggle against Israel. CEC chairman and Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg as well as parties across the Zionist opposition also supported barring him.

The Adalah rights group, which is representing the parties and candidates, argues that the CEC decisions “disregard the Supreme Court’s binding case law and rest on irrelevant, outdated or distorted evidence.” It also accuses the body of applying a discriminatory double standard by disqualifying every Arab slate while allowing far-right parties, including far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism, to run despite “extensive evidence of explicit incitement to violence against Palestinians.”

Separately, Yair Golan’s left-wing Democrats party is petitioning the High Court to overturn the CEC’s decision to allow Otzma Yehudit to run, arguing that the party should be disqualified for ostensibly negating Israel’s existence as a democratic state and inciting racism.

Report: Pilots in civilian clothes saved flydubai flight

There was a second team of pilots in civilian clothes on the flydubai plane that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, Channel 12 reports. They are the passengers who prevented one of the pilots from taking over the plane, according to the outlet.

A senior Israeli official tells the outlet that if the pilots had not been on the plane, the incident could have ended in another September 11, 2001, attack or 1976 Entebbe hostage incident.

The report is not confirmed.

According to the Walla news outlet, the pilot under investigation is Omani.

Reform Judaism head slams Jerusalem mayor for not condemning attacks on synagogue

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, in Jerusalem on June 27, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The head of the Union for Reform Judaism has called on Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion to publicly condemn a series of attacks against Kol HaNeshama, a Reform synagogue in the capital, after the congregation was targeted for the fourth time in a month.

The latest incident occurred on Yom Kippur, when an intruder entered the synagogue between the Kol Nidre service and the following morning’s prayers and removed a Pride flag from the sanctuary. Earlier incidents included a smashed window and vandalism, eggs being thrown at worshipers on Rosh Hashanah, and other damage.

“Any single attack should be enough to spur vocal condemnation from you and other authorities,” writes Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the movement, in an open letter.

He notes that when a shooter opened fire outside Sons of Jacob Synagogue ⁠in Belleville, Ontario, during Yom Kippur, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and others condemned the attack.

Israeli officials also offered support when Central Synagogue in Manhattan had an assailant rush the Bima during a Shabbat service, he says.

“Yet, amidst repeated attacks on Kol HaNeshama, you and other officials up to and including the prime minister, have yet to raise your voices,” Jacobs writes. “The fact that four such attacks have happened without a single public expression of concern or opposition from you is simply and terribly wrong.”

Last week, President Isaac Herzog called leaders of the synagogue to express solidarity following the attack.

Herzog to deliver statement in West Bank about settler violence

President Isaac Herzog attends the President’s Award in Sports ceremony at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, August 16, 2026. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

Amid ongoing settler violence in the West Bank, President Isaac Herzog will visit the Judea and Samaria Division headquarters near Beit El, his office says.

He will meet with Division Commander Brig. Gen. Kobi Heller, and will deliver a statement.

Yesterday, Herzog said law enforcement authorities must act “decisively” against settlement extremists who rioted overnight in the West Bank village of Jalud, torching property, clashing with troops and preventing a Palestinian family from returning to the home they were violently evicted from.

Writing on X, Herzog called the violence “of utmost severity” and said it was a “moral stain [and] an attack on the rule of law and our most basic values as a nation.”

Report: PM shared intel on Iran nuclear progress during Abu Dhabi meeting with Emirati leader

The leader of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Berlin, Germany, September 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Michele Tantussi)

During their Abu Dhabi meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed new Israeli intelligence showing that Iran is making progress on its nuclear program, CNN reports, citing an Israeli source with knowledge of the meeting.

Among the details Netanyahu shared was intelligence showing evidence of new construction at Pickaxe Mountain, the under-construction Iranian nuclear site buried deep under a mountain.

The site, known as Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, or “Pickaxe Mountain,” lies on the south side of Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment site, which was bombed by the United States during Operation Midnight Hammer in 2025’s 12-day war between Iran and Israel.

Pickaxe Mountain has not been struck.

Flydubai sending 2nd plane to fly stranded passengers from Saudi Arabia to Tel Aviv

Following the emergency landing of a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv in Saudi Arabia, the airline is sending a second plane to Tabuk Airport to fly passengers the remainder of the way to Israel.

There is no current ETA on when that flight is expected to arrive and when the passengers are expected to land in Tel Aviv.

What we know about the flydubai plane incident

Here’s what we know so far about the flydubai plane that signaled an emergency during its flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv:

Flight FDB1073, with a reported 180 passengers — including dozens of Israelis — sent a “squawk code” of 7700, a general international emergency signal, as it made a U-turn over the Jordan-Saudi Arabia border.

The Boeing 737 MAX, as it flew over Saudi Arabia, briefly issued a code 7500, meaning a hijacking or unlawful interference.

Data from publicly available sources shows that two hours and fifteen minutes into the flight, the Boeing suddenly took a sharp nosedive, dropping from 34,000 to around 17,000 feet in under a minute as it sped up from 411 knots to nearly 600.

The plane recovered slightly for several seconds, reaching 21,650 feet, before dropping sharply again, this time to under 14,000 feet.

Over the next hour, the plane failed to maintain a steady altitude, though it remained at around 15,000 feet, indicating it was being controlled by hand rather than autopilot.

Israeli authorities were unable to make contact with the plane during the incident. Israeli Air Force fighter jets were scrambled to intercept it amid fears of a hijacking. In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior military officials held assessments on the incident.

However, not long after, contact was made with the plane and the flight landed at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia.

Israeli officials say that the emergency signals were issued after a fight apparently broke out in the cockpit between the pilots, although the exact details of the incident have yet to be confirmed by the airline.

Israeli passengers have recounted scenes of chaos and panic as the plane dived, of blood in the cockpit and of one of the pilots being stabbed, while some Israeli passengers reportedly helped crew to subdue an attacker.

Dubai-based flydubai has confirmed an “incident,” saying that all passengers on the flight landed “safely” at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia. It says that “all passengers are safe and accounted for.”

“The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew remain our highest priority,” it says. “Further updates will be issued as additional confirmed details become available.”

Flydubai passengers: ‘We heard screams, the planed dived, there was blood in the cockpit; Israelis helped subdue attacker’

A Flydubai passenger aircraft takes off from Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on February 25, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

A passenger on the flydubai plane that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia describes harrowing scenes to Channel 12.

“We heard screams on the plane. Then they opened the cockpit and we saw blood, and someone had stabbed the pilot with a pocketknife,” the unnamed woman tells the network via text message.

Though there is very little official information at this point, it is believed that a violent altercation developed between the two pilots.

The woman says Israeli passengers helped restrain an attacker along with members of the crew. “We prayed, ‘Shema Yisrael,’” she says. “There were also moments when we thought we weren’t going to make it out alive.”

Another woman, identifying herself as noam, tells the network in a call: “Screams began on the plane… by passengers who realized what was happening. We understand that one of the pilots was stabbed and seriously wounded, and they lost control of the plane. It started to dive quickly. It was very scary.”

Lebanese army says Israeli strike wounds four including soldier

The Lebanese military says that an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon wounded a soldier and three civilians, as the implementation of a deal between the two countries has stalled.

“A soldier was seriously wounded as the result of an Israeli targeting of an army vehicle” in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, Lebanon’s army says in a statement, adding that three civilians were also injured.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reports that “an enemy drone attacked Nabatieh al-Fawqa,” a town that has been under repeated Israeli strikes in recent weeks despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Israeli military does not immediately comment on the incident. It continues to intermittently strike Hezbollah targets it says are in violation of the truce.

Elections Committee to hold discussion on Likud petition against efforts to bring Israelis living abroad to vote

The Central Elections Committee will hold a discussion on October 6 on a Likud petition against bodies engaged in efforts to assist Israelis living abroad in traveling to Israel to vote in the October 27 election.

Israel does not have absentee voting, with the exception of diplomats and emissaries posted around the world. But returning citizens can vote as long as they are in the country and registered. The AID Coalition organization is running an initiative called “Fly and Vote” aiming to help coordinate travel for Israelis looking to return for the election.

Likud has claimed the organization is operating illegally and in contradiction to the laws surrounding party financing. Its move appears to be due to a belief that many of those who wish to return would vote for opposition parties.

However, the organization has asserted that it is nonpartisan, “does not endorse any candidate or party,” and that it does not cover any travel costs.

Netanyahu’s office: Flydubai situation ‘under control,’ passengers will be brought home safely

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held consultations on the emergency landing of a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, his office says.

“The situation is under control, and all measures are currently being taken to bring the Israeli passengers back to Israel safely,” says the Prime Minister’s Office.

Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv expected to land in Saudi Arabia within minutes

The flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv that signaled an emergency a short while ago is expected to land in Saudi Arabia in the coming minutes.

The plane was last seen on flight tracking sites near Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia.

Israeli security sources say that once the plane lands, authorities will be able to establish a clearer picture of what occurred on the plane.

Fears of hijacking as plane from Dubai to Tel Aviv signals emergency, veers over Saudi Arabia; Israeli warplanes scramble

A flydubai passenger plane flies over Ben Gurion International Airport, central Israel, September 9, 2026. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

A commercial aircraft flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv signaled an emergency a short while ago, while turning around over Saudi Arabia.

The flydubai flight initially sent a “squawk code” of 7700, an international emergency signal, according to flight tracking data. It then sent a 7500 code, meaning a hijacking or unlawful interference, a short time later.

Israeli Air Force fighter jets have been scrambled toward the plane, according to security sources. Hebrew media reports that the prime minister and defense minister are holding emergency consultations.

The plane now no longer appears on flight tracking sites.

Some 180 passengers are reported to be on board.

#FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv squawking 7700 en route to Tel Aviv.https://t.co/BI5p7bTPrw pic.twitter.com/7fUP8XwwP3

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) September 30, 2026

90-year-old woman hit by garbage truck and killed in southern kibbutz

A 90-year-old female pedestrian has been killed after being hit by a garbage truck in a southern kibbutz.

The accident occurred in Kibbutz Brur Hayil, near Sderot. Paramedics who arrived on the scene declared the woman dead.

The cause of the accident is not immediately clear.

US forces exit Iraq, emboldening Iran’s proxies and Islamic State

A US Air Force C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft prepares for takeoff from Camp Victory on the outskirts of Baghdad International Airport on September 29, 2026. (Ammar Karim/AFP)

US forces have withdrawn from their remaining bases in Iraq, raising fears they will leave behind a security vacuum, further embolden Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias and give the resurgent Islamic State group an opening to regroup.

The departure, celebrated as a victory by Tehran and its allies, was agreed in 2024 under President Joe Biden and carried out by Donald Trump’s administration even as it wages war against Iran.

It comes 23 years after US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein, then triggered upheaval and chaos, culminating with the rise of Islamic State.

While the departure of US forces is broadly popular among Iraqis, some worry that security forces trained and funded by the United States still can’t protect the country, where 4,500 American forces died in more than 20 years of war.

“The lesson from the past two decades is that security vacuums can be extremely dangerous,” says Jassim al-Bahadli, an Iraqi analyst who advises the security forces.

After US forces invaded in 2003, it went on to occupy the country, install a Shi’ite-led government and fight a years-long insurgency — first by Saddam loyalists, then al-Qaeda, as a sectarian civil war devastated Iraq — before withdrawing at the end of 2011. They returned less than three years later to help Iraqi forces defeat the Sunni terror group Islamic State, which terrorized millions, in a major war from 2014 to 2017.

Around twice as many Americans died in “Operation Iraqi Freedom” as in the parallel war in Afghanistan, which ended with an abrupt US withdrawal in 2021.

In this year’s conflict with Iran, 7 of the 18 US service members listed as killed were in Iraq, the last an army sergeant who died during the controlled detonation of a drone at a base near Erbil in July.

Iran, which says its ultimate aim is to force American forces to leave the entire Middle East, casts the US pullout from Iraq as a triumph for its “axis of resistance” of allied armed groups across the region.

“What is further concerning is not necessarily direct Iranian intervention, but the possibility that Iran’s proxies will feel increasingly empowered in the absence of a Western military presence. These groups may attempt to expand their role in shaping state policies and consolidating their presence within key institutions,” says Baghdad-based political analyst Ahmed Younis.

Some Iraqi security officials, both in the federal government and the semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, say the US pullout also risks giving new life to Islamic State fighters, who, despite the defeat of their self-proclaimed caliphate nearly a decade ago, retain a sleeper cell network.

Iran executes two men accused of killing security forces in 2026 protests

Iran has executed two men convicted for their role in killing four security forces during the January 2026 protests in the northeastern city of Mashhad, Iran’s Student News Networks reports.

Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the men’s death sentences and the executions were carried out after the legal process was completed, SNN says.

Iranians face soaring prices for medicine as US blockade and sanctions hit hard

A man receives his medicine in a pharmacy in Tehran, Iran, August 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

TEHRAN — Medication prices are soaring in Iran and some treatments have become hard to find, leaving patients and their families scrambling as a US blockade and stepped-up sanctions squeeze the country’s pharmaceuticals industry.

Some medicines have more than tripled in price, further squeezing Iranians’ finances seven months into the country’s war with the United States and Israel. Prices for food and other goods have skyrocketed even as unemployment has risen and the currency, which hit a record low this week, has lost half its value.

The war has become an economic endurance test. Iran has tried to push world energy prices higher with attacks on the region’s oil shipping routes; the United States, in turn, has aimed to wreck Iran’s economy by blockading its ports since June and slapping it with increasingly tough sanctions.

Iran’s pharmaceutical industry is vulnerable because of its reliance on imports. So far there has been little sign of major shortages of medicines at Iran’s hospitals, but the difficulties are showing at pharmacies.

Gholamreza Rahmani, a Tehran welder, and his wife recently scoured several pharmacies over two days hoping to fill prescriptions for four medicines for their 12-year-old daughter, who was having stomach troubles. “Each one would have one or two items, not all of them,” he says, noting that they couldn’t find one of the medicines anywhere. The search cost him two days of wages because he couldn’t go to work.

“My daughter’s illness and the loss of income are like scissors, cutting from two sides,” he says.

Iran produces more than 80% of its medicines domestically, according to official statistics, but many of those rely on imported raw materials. Before the war, most medicines and pharmaceutical components were brought in by sea, but the American naval blockade has cut off shipping, Bahman Sabour, a member of the Tehran Pharmacies Association, tells local media.

Medical importers switched to more expensive air routes. But that access has been threatened by new US sanctions on a number of Iranian airlines, which led to some international flights being halted.

US sanctions don’t directly target medicines, but financial sanctions in place for years also hurt the pharmaceutical supply because international banks and companies often will be overly cautious and refuse transactions because they fear running afoul of sanctions, says Reza Majdzadeh, a professor at the School of Health and Social Care at the University of Essex in England.

“A medicine may be perfectly legal to sell to Iran, but a bank may refuse to process the payment,” he says. “A pharmaceutical or shipping company may simply decide that dealing with Iran is not worth the risk. … The transaction is legal on paper, but it does not happen in the real world.”

The Iranian government hasn’t said how much medicine production has fallen. But officials say it has been hurt because airstrikes damaged more than 40 pharmaceutical factories, including some producing cancer treatments.

Also, cash-strapped pharmacies sometimes struggle to keep their shelves stocked. Insurance companies have fallen behind by as much as nine months on payments to pharmacies for drug coverage because of the “current situation,” says Mohammad Jamalian, a member of parliament’s health committee.

GOP blocks Democrat-led Senate resolution on rights violations in West Bank

US Senate Republicans narrowly defeated a Democrat-led resolution requiring the State Department to submit a report to Congress on alleged human rights violations in the West Bank, including the killing of American citizens.

The Senate voted 47 to 51 to block the resolution, with every Democrat, except Senator John Fetterman, voting in favor and every Republican, except Rand Paul, voting against.

The resolution said nine American citizens have been killed in recent years by Israeli settlers or security forces in the West Bank and orders the State Department to submit a report within 30 days providing an update on investigations into their deaths, in addition to providing details on the status of Americans and minors being held in Israeli jails.

While the resolution would not have cut aid to Israel, a failure by the administration to deliver the report could have triggered restrictions on aid.

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the measure’s lead sponsor, had argued it was “long past time” to examine human rights in the West Bank, including the deaths of Americans.

“It is our responsibility to ensure recipients of US taxpayer dollars act in line with our laws and our values,” he said in a statement, referring to Israel.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Saudi official denies Israeli report claiming Netanyahu met with Saudi representative while in UAE

A senior Saudi official denies reports of a meeting between Saudi and Israeli officials, after the Ynet news site reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had met with Middle Eastern officials, including a Saudi official, during his recent visit to the United Arab Emirates.

Ynet issued a correction following its initial report, which didn’t cite a source, saying it couldn’t confirm such a meeting was held.

The report has also been denied by Jordan, which the outlet claimed was represented at the meeting along with Morocco and other unspecified countries.

PM’s office says Netanyahu updated Lapid about ‘possible attacks’ ahead of election, as Likud rails at opposition leader

This composite image shows Opposition Leader Yair Lapid (L) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking in video statements they each released on September 29, 2026. (Screenshot via Yair Lapid's X account, Screenshot/Ma’ayan Toaf/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says the premier updated Opposition Leader Yair Lapid about warnings of “possible attacks on various fronts” ahead of the upcoming elections during their security briefing tonight, while his ruling Likud party slams Lapid for criticizing Netanyahu in a statement following the sit-down.

During the intelligence briefing, “warnings of possible attacks on various fronts in the run-up to the elections were presented in detail,” the Prime Minister’s Office says, without elaborating further.

Netanyahu’s military secretary Maj. Gen. Guy Markizeno and the Military Secretariat’s intelligence officer also took part in the meeting, according to the PMO.

In a separate statement, Netanyahu’s Likud party says Lapid left the meeting at 11:39 p.m, and “just two minutes later, at record speed, he published a lengthy statement consisting entirely of a political attack on the prime minister.”

“Either he writes at the speed of light, or the statement was prepared in advance, regardless of the briefing that was presented to him,” the party charges.

Costa Rica’s Grynspan maintains lead in race to become next UN chief

Then-Ibero-American Secretary Rebeca Grynspan speaks in Antigua, Guatemala, November 16, 2018. (AP/Oliver de Ros)

UNITED NATIONS — An informal poll by the United Nations Security Council places former Costa Rican vice president Rebeca Grynspan as the frontrunner in the contest to become the 10th UN secretary-general, sources close ‌to the process say.

Grynspan, the daughter of two Jewish refugees who fled the Second World War, has maintained a fairly consistent lead in the straw polls.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

After briefing by Netanyahu about alleged dangers, Lapid says no need to panic the public, PM should draft the Haredim if he’s worried about security

Yair Lapid speaks at an event presenting the Together party’s candidate list ahead of the upcoming general elections in Tel Aviv, September 6, 2026. (Flash90)

After meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a security briefing, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says “there’s no reason to put the public in a panic,” appearing to criticize the premier for claiming there was a pre-election plot to attack Israel.

Lapid says “security threats are something that must be handled professionally and responsibly. Israel’s security and IDF bases are not the setting for election videos,” in a social media post. Netanyahu had delivered his warning about an ostensible pre-election enemy attack plot during a visit to the Tel Nof air base.

“In any case, the elections will be held on time, and no one has an excuse to disrupt them,” he says.

Further denouncing Netanyahu, Lapid said that IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir “has raised 10 red flags about the shortage of combat soldiers and the erosion in the IDF. If Netanyahu is so worried about the security situation, he should draft the 15,000 ultra-Orthodox men that the IDF needs.”

Lapid says he demanded Netanyahu convene a meeting with the two of them together with the Shin Bet head and Central Elections Committee head “to ensure everyone is updated and coordinated ahead of the election.”

Iran warns UAE of ‘highly dangerous consequences’ after it hosts Netanyahu

Iran’s Foreign Ministry warns of “highly dangerous consequences” to the United Arab Emirates after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit on Sunday.

Labeling Netanyahu “the child-killing and war-mongering Prime Minister of the Zionist regime,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry says, “the presence of a criminal whose hands are stained with the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent people and who is under prosecution by international courts is extremely dangerous and alarming,” according to an unofficial translation by Tehran’s embassy in India of a statement.

“Undoubtedly, given the proven hostility and animosity of the Zionist regime toward Iran and other countries of the region, as well as the regime’s repeated threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran, all countries of the region should be vigilant about the consequences and repercussions of such a presence, which threatens the collective peace and security of the region,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry says.