Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday warned that any country or organisation found to be responsible for the violent clash on board an Israel-bound FlyDubai flight would "pay a very heavy price". While Netanyahu has alleged the co-pilot who stabbed his captain mid-flight had undergone "Islamist radicalisation", the motive behind the incident remains unclear.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Friday that Israel would impose a "very heavy price" on any power behind the FlyDubai incident, without offering evidence that any country was responsible.
"As time passes, the picture is becoming clearer: The attacker underwent Islamist radicalisation. He came to crash the plane with all passengers on board," Netanyahu alleged in a statement.
"We are investigating whether he was sent, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price," Netanyahu said of the co-pilot assailant.
The aircraft carrying 174 people was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after the co-pilot apparently stabbed the pilot.
The exact circumstances of the incident and the motive of the assailant are under investigation in the United Arab Emirates, where the two men have been transferred.
Netanyahu did not identify any country as a potential culprit, but for years has been quick to point the finger at Iran, which Israel and the United States attacked in February.
Read moreNetanyahu says Flydubai co-pilot was radicalised as UAE probes terror link
US President Donald Trump, who in April reached a ceasefire with Iran that is now in tatters, said Thursday in response to a question that he was "hearing" that Iran was involved and that the country will "be hit very hard" if so. He did not provide any evidence to support the claim.
FlyDubai said on Friday a full official investigation into the incident was under way.
"It is important that we allow this process to establish the facts," chief executive Ghaith Al Ghaith said in a statement.
A senior UAE official on Friday alleged that the incident was a "terrorist act", praising the captain who helped stop the plane from crashing after he was attacked by his co-pilot.
Presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said on X that Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, was a "true hero" and deserved "every appreciation".
Read moreIndian pilot hailed as 'hero' after being allegedly stabbed by co-pilot on Israel-bound flight
"In confronting a serious terrorist act and a potential disaster, he embodied the true meaning of courage and responsibility," Gargash said.
Israel and the United States have accused Iran's Shia clerical state of being behind a number of attacks around the world since the Islamic republic was founded in 1979.
But it has little known connection to hijackings, hallmarks of al Qaeda during the September 11, 2001 attacks and of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the 1960s and 1970s.
Netanyahu has previously said the pilot was from Oman and earlier left open the possibility that he was experiencing mental problems.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
