Weekend Recap: Flydubai attack
By Sammy Tisser,
Hamam al-Hammami, the 29-year-old Omani copilot identified by US media, attacked the Indian captain of flydubai Flight 1073 with the cockpit's emergency axe on Wednesday, UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said, calling it a terrorist act. Investigations are continuing into the circumstances, motives and any related connections, including physical and digital evidence. Channel 12 reported that investigators believe he was indoctrinated into al-Qaeda's ideology and met unspecified religious figures as part of his radicalization. Their working assessment is that the decision to attack was his own, and they are checking for copycats at other foreign airlines.
CNN reported that a since-deleted LinkedIn profile under his name showed seven years at Oman Air ending in February 2025, then Royal Air Maroc from June 2025 until January 2026. The profile did not mention flydubai, and a source familiar with the matter confirmed it was his. It said he studied aviation management remotely at Buckinghamshire New University in England, graduating in 2023, which the university confirmed. His X and Instagram accounts have since been deleted. CNN said the Instagram account posted two videos after the attack. One included footage of Israeli planes filmed from other cockpits and ended with photos of former al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, who carried out the 2009 suicide bombing of a CIA base in Afghanistan. The other reportedly showed an AI image of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem over a recited poem.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Oman had banned him from flying over concerns that he had been radicalized, yet he kept flying flydubai's Dubai-Tel Aviv route. The Journal could not determine whether Muscat shared its concerns with other countries or airlines, or specify the nature of his radicalization. Flydubai and Oman's government did not respond to its requests for comment.
Passenger Yaniv Hayun helped subdue al-Hammami and is credited with saving the roughly 170 people on board. He and his wife, Meital, met US Ambassador Mike Huckabee at the embassy in Jerusalem, where Huckabee gave him a hat autographed by President Donald Trump. Huckabee wrote on X that the couple "inspired the world" and joked about who should play Hayun in a movie. Meital's pick was Tom Cruise. Dubai Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed visited flydubai pilot Smit Machchar in hospital, where he is recovering, and praised his courage and care for human life.
Repatriation flights
Israeli carriers began flying home Israelis stranded in Dubai after flydubai suspended its Tel Aviv route. The launch of flights by El Al, Arkia and Israir, planned for Friday morning, was delayed by problems getting landing authorization in Dubai, and El Al cancelled its morning departure. Arkia and Israir flew the first flights overnight, and the first Arkia flight has landed at Ben Gurion Airport. Arkia will operate two passenger flights this weekend, plus a separate flight carrying luggage left behind in Dubai. El Al expects to fly its first repatriation flight Saturday night, since it does not operate during Shabbat.
Arkia called the operation "highly complex" from both a security and operational standpoint. It said its last flight to the UAE was on February 26, 2026, and no Israeli airline aircraft has landed in Dubai since. Passengers are barred from bringing luggage aboard, so Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered cargo planes to Dubai to retrieve it, with the first leaving within the hour.
Israel-UAE friction
Flydubai officials told Channel 12 they want to resume Israel service and are ready to return as soon as Sunday, but that Israeli officials forced the cancellation of flights until further notice. A source close to the UAE government told the channel that Israel is using the attack for political purposes and is responsible for the halt in flydubai service. The source rejected the "rescue flights" label as a misrepresentation of the UAE as a country at war or in crisis, and said the Emiratis believe Israel's election, not logic, is driving the matter. The source said the UAE is conducting a parallel investigation and wants to resolve the crisis, while accusing Israel of dragging its feet. The source also noted that Etihad is still flying to Abu Dhabi under a strict protocol that should apply to flydubai too. The report did not include a response from Jerusalem.
Manchester plot
Salam Ahmadyan, 36, of Liverpool and Rahman Salehi, 34, of Salford, both Iranian nationals, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London after being charged Friday with conduct in preparation for terrorist acts. Police said they were in contact with an overseas third party who may be in Iran. Neither man entered a plea, and Judge Nina Tempia remanded them to appear at the Old Bailey on October 23.
Prosecutor Mark Luckett told the court the pair researched attacks on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue and the Jewish Museum in Cheetham Hill, and were observed carrying out hostile reconnaissance within Manchester's Jewish community. He said a third person believed to be in Iran coordinated the plans and provided instructions for a homemade chlorine bomb.
Heaton Park was the site of a deadly Yom Kippur attack last year. Both defendants crossed the Channel from France by small boat. Salehi arrived in 2020 and was granted asylum in 2023, while Ahmadyan arrived in 2023 and has a pending claim. The case follows a spate of attacks in London on Jewish or Israel-linked sites, some claimed by an Iran-linked group, including the arson of Jewish charity ambulances.
Yemen and Saudi Arabia
Houthi media said Saudi forces carried out 26 strikes on Sanaa on Saturday. AFP correspondents reported hearing at least five blasts in different areas and seeing two warplanes firing missiles. Al-Masirah TV also reported strikes on the telecommunications network in Saada governorate, a Houthi stronghold. The Houthis said Saudi forces launched 94 strikes on areas under their control in the past 24 hours and 1,350 since the renewed fighting began. A witness told Reuters a large plume of smoke and fire was visible near an Aramco facility in Riyadh. Saudi authorities did not confirm the fire, Aramco did not respond to a request for comment, and no one claimed responsibility.
The Houthis kept firing missiles at the kingdom. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles aimed at Khamis Mushait. Saudi Civil Defense said shrapnel from a missile fired Friday injured one person in Ahad Rafidah governorate in the Asir region.
Reuters, citing six people with knowledge of the preparations, reported that Saudi Arabia is planning an offensive against the Houthis in the coming weeks. It would be led by Yemeni forces overseen by Riyadh and backed by Saudi air strikes. The officials said one option is a narrow assault around the Bab el-Mandeb strait, which the Houthis seized last month after advancing down the coast. The other is a broader campaign with synchronized attacks in Al-Bayda, Marib, Taiz and Al-Jawf, which could mobilize more than 100,000 Yemeni troops. The US is providing intelligence, and some regional and European nations are giving mainly defensive aid, but the officials said they are not expected to join combat.
Axios reported that Trump's top cabinet members, chaired by Vice President JD Vance, met secretly at Camp David to discuss next steps in the Iran war and the Saudi-Houthi conflict.
Gaza
An overnight Israeli strike on a building in western Gaza City reportedly targeted senior Hamas official Ali al-Amoudi, according to a security source. Palestinian media reported at least five people killed: a young man, a mother and her daughter, and two other adult women. Amoudi was not named among the dead. The IDF had not commented while it assessed the results. Amoudi is reported to be a frontrunner to succeed Khalil al-Hayya as head of Hamas's political bureau in Gaza and is believed to be the de facto senior-most Hamas political official in the Strip.
Separately, the IDF said strikes in Gaza City killed two Palestinian Islamic Jihad commanders: Ahmed Mahmoud Harb Ramlawi, a commander in the rocket unit of the Shejaiya Battalion, and Munir Ibrahim Masri, who led an anti-tank squad. The military said both were advancing attacks on troops and Israeli civilians and trying to restore the group's capabilities, "in systematic violation of the ceasefire agreement."
Lebanon
Eight Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded Friday when two army vehicles crashed into each other near the southern Lebanese village of Rab al-Thalathine, the military said. Six were taken to a hospital for treatment. The IDF said the circumstances of the apparent accident are under investigation.
Hamas financing
The US Treasury sanctioned a Hamas financing network, including battalion deputy Saleem Abdallah Saleem al-Zaq, two France-based fundraisers and two entities. It said the network moved more than $2 million to Hamas through deceptive charitable fronts and cryptocurrency, and described a "sophisticated, multi-year financing architecture." Zaq is based in Gaza and oversees a network that used money services businesses and crypto wallets to send funds to the Al-Qassam Brigades.
The Justice Department indicted Zaq, saying he collected more than $1.7 million through charity fronts. It said three of his associates were arrested in France, following an arrest in Florida and two in Louisiana in the same case. Court filings say Zaq lives in Gaza, and he does not appear to be in US custody.
Hormuz
UKMTO issued two reports of tankers struck by unknown projectiles. In the first, a tanker transiting outbound through the Strait of Hormuz was hit, causing a small fire and a blackout aboard. The fire was extinguished, with no casualties or environmental damage. In the second, the master of a crude oil tanker reported being struck 4 nautical miles east of Oman. All crew were reported safe, with no environmental impact. The reports do not say whether the two incidents involve the same vessel.
Iran
Iran executed Siavash Jamshidi, convicted of firing a military-grade weapon at police during the anti-government protests earlier this year. His sentence was for moharebeh, or "waging war against God," through brandishing and firing a firearm, plus conspiracy and collusion against national security. The judiciary's Mizan Online said he was also found guilty of unrelated offenses including fraud, threats, theft, illegal weapons possession, complicity in kidnapping and intentional bodily harm. Executions linked to the protests have stepped up.
Separately, Iraq's prime minister's office said Iranian airlines, excluding Mahan Air, are allowed 40 daily flights to and from Najaf international airport, after a suspension due to US sanctions.
Topics: Iran, Strait of Hormuz, Lebanon & Hezbollah
Reported by Sammy Tisser for Bernie News Network. See our editorial standards and corrections policy.