Netanyahu: It is too early to determine who is behind the Fly Dubai incident

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In a new comment on the incident of the Flydubai flight that was heading from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that it was too early to determine the identity of who was behind it.

Netanyahu added in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News on Wednesday that Israel "may" participate in the investigations.

His comment came in response to a question about whether there was any indication of Iranian involvement in the incident.

Earlier Wednesday, Netanyahu reported that a pilot on a Flydubai flight attempted to shoot down the plane, which was carrying 174 passengers.

He said in a videotape that one of the pilots “stabbed his colleague and apparently tried to shoot down the plane with all its passengers” while it was approaching Israel.

While he praised the Indian pilot, Smit Machar, who was injured during a confrontation with his co-pilot on the flight, as well as the passengers of the plane, considering that they prevented a disaster.

For his part, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said that the incident was a “terrorist attempt,” adding that “the available preliminary information indicates that the attacker’s goal was to bring down the plane with all its passengers.”

Katz also claimed that “the operation was only thwarted thanks to the courage of a number of Israeli passengers” who stormed the cockpit and were able to overpower the person he described as a “terrorist,” before returning control of the plane to an additional flight crew who was on board.

For his part, a US State Department official confirmed that there were 4 American citizens on board the flight.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump announced that he spoke “at length” to Netanyahu about the incident, and said: “It appears that the co-pilot was either a terrorist or deranged, and he stabbed the pilot.”

In addition, the Israeli Ministry of Transport indicated that a joint investigation was being conducted with the security establishment regarding the plane incident.

The Israeli statements came coinciding with the flight's passengers departing on a new flight to Tel Aviv, according to Agence France-Presse, while security sources reported that Saudi Arabia refused to allow receiving an Israeli plane before the passengers departed on another Flydubai flight, according to Reuters.

On the other hand, Flydubai issued an explanation of what happened, saying that an “altercation” occurred inside the cockpit of flight FZ1073 heading from Dubai Airport to Ben Gurion International Airport, confirming that the flight crew was able to secure the plane, divert its course, and land it safely at Tabuk Airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

The company said that all passengers and crew members were fine, and that their safety was confirmed after landing, noting that the necessary measures had been taken to deal with the incident and ensure the completion of the flight in accordance with the approved operational requirements.

She also explained that the plane’s crew dealt with the situation in accordance with established safety protocols, and was able to implement a diversion and a safe landing at Tabuk Airport without the passengers being exposed to any harm.

But Flydubai stressed that "it is too early to determine the causes or motives of the incident," explaining that "its circumstances are still not fully known and are subject to an official investigation by the competent authorities, while confirming its full cooperation with the investigations to reveal the details of the incident and its causes."

It is noteworthy that Tabuk Airport received a distress call from a Flydubai flight at 8:44 am, with the aim of carrying out an emergency landing, which required activating emergency and preparedness procedures to deal with the situation and ensure the safety of passengers and crew members. It was later confirmed that an alternative plane carried the passengers to their final destination.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Netanyahu’s office announced that the latter issued instructions to intensify security measures on board the aircraft of Israeli and non-Israeli companies.