Saudi Arabia turned down Israeli requests to send planes to retrieve passengers: Saudi source

Saudi Arabia turned down multiple requests by Israel to send its own planes to retrieve passengers from a diverted flydubai flight, a Saudi source with knowledge of the matter told AFP Thursday.

"They asked to send military warplanes. Two or three direct to Tabuk airport,” the source told AFP. "Turned down."

"Then asked to send [El Al] commercial one. Turned down as well."

The source also told AFP the message was communicated through the UAE and not directly with the Israelis.

The comments come a day after a plane heading to Tel Aviv from Dubai was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, after one of the pilots allegedly tried to crash the plane and kill everyone onboard.

The Saudi source said the kingdom fulfilled its "international obligation" and assisted the passengers of the flight after they made the emergency landing, emphasising that nationality of the travellers had no impact on their decision.

"We were to act the same way, regardless of the nationalities of flydubai passengers," the source added.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has resisted pressure to join the US-backed Abraham Accords and establish diplomatic ties with Israel.

Riyadh has maintained that it will not normalise relations with Israel without a clear path to Palestinian statehood.

But the kingdom has long been seen as the most consequential potential addition to the Abraham Accords, with negotiations advancing at various points before stalling.

AFP

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