El Al Cancels Dubai Evacuation Flights Citing Landing Permit Issues

El Al has canceled its scheduled evacuation flights from Dubai for Israelis stranded there, citing a revocation of landing permits for Israeli airlines at Dubai Airport. The airline announced that the flights, originally set to depart today, would not proceed. However, El Al stated that evacuation efforts are not entirely halted, with subsequent flights planned for the following week on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

This situation arises amidst an ongoing investigation into an incident involving a Flydubai pilot. The pilot suspected of attempting to crash the aircraft has been transferred from Saudi Arabia to the UAE. An Indian co-pilot, Smith Machchar, who was injured during the incident, was also brought to the UAE. The UAE authorities reportedly expressed dissatisfaction with Israel for prematurely linking the co-pilot's actions to terrorism before the investigation concluded. An Israeli source indicated that Abu Dhabi considers the term "terror" sensitive and potentially indicative of a lack of control, leading them to refrain from definitive conclusions regarding the Omani pilot's motives. Israel, meanwhile, is exploring the possibility that the co-pilot acted alone. Following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's interview with Fox News, where he described the co-pilot's "extreme Islamist processing," Israel began examining the pilot's social media activity. Concurrently, a theory involving nationalistic and religious motives, rather than suicide, is gaining traction.