Saudi Arabia has not allowed Israel to evacuate its citizens

Saudi Arabia did not allow Israel to evacuate its citizens who were on board the Flydubai airline, around which the aviation crisis arose on September 30. It is reported by Reuters.

According to the agency's report, citing two security sources, Saudi Arabia rejected Israel's request and did not allow Israeli aircraft to enter its airspace to pick up Israeli passengers stranded in Saudi Arabia due to an incident that occurred on a Flydubai airline plane.

As previously reported, the airliner was supposed to fly from Dubai to Tel Aviv, but made an emergency landing in the Saudi city of Tabuk due to a "conflict" in the cockpit. According to the Israeli side, the co-pilot injured the commander of the ship and tried to direct the plane to fall.

The Israeli Air Force was ready to send C-130 "Super Hercules" transport planes to Saudi Arabia to pick up people, but permission was not received.

Saudi Arabia has no official diplomatic relations with Israel. According to one of the Saudi sources, "normalization cannot be imposed." The Communications Department of the Government of Saudi Arabia at that time did not immediately comment on this message.

After Saudi Arabia's refusal, Flydubai sent a replacement aircraft to Tabuk. As a result, the passengers, most of whom were Israelis, arrived safely at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.