A Flydubai flight carrying Israeli passengers touched down unexpectedly in Pakistan late Wednesday night, a country Israel designates as hostile and where no citizen of the Jewish state is allowed to legally stay or enter.
The aircraft landed after one of the passengers experienced a medical emergency. The plane spent almost two hours on Pakistani soil before resuming its journey, flying over Indian airspace on its way to its destination, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Israel categorizes Pakistan as a high-risk nation, strictly forbidding landings within its borders. This classification places Pakistan alongside countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, Syria, and others where Israelis are prohibited from entering, including to take connecting flights without exiting the airport.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry provided more details about the incident: “During the night, a Flydubai flight en route to Sri Lanka made an emergency landing in Karachi, the capital of Pakistan. Israeli citizens were on board at the time. The Situation Center and the Department for Israelis Abroad at the Foreign Ministry were updated about the event and worked in collaboration with other agencies to ensure the well-being of the Israelis. After a short time, the plane continued on its way with the Israelis on board.”
‘We don’t know if they knew we were Israelis’
On Thursday morning, we spoke with Rotem Yehud and Itai Roshtein, two Israelis recently released from IDF reserve duty who were flying to Sri Lanka for vacation. They recounted the experience:
“A passenger wasn’t feeling well during the flight. Pakistan was the closest place to land. It took some time to get approval, so we circled above the Pakistani airport for an hour and a half. Then we spent another two hours on the ground in Pakistan while they refueled our plane before we continued to Sri Lanka.”
They added, “As long as we were on the plane, there was no reason to be afraid. They weren’t hostile towards us. The medical teams were the first to board the plane. We don’t know if the Pakistanis knew we were Israelis. We sat quietly and didn’t feel anything different.
“We talked among ourselves and immediately stood up to speak with other Israelis. The families with young children were very scared; they didn’t understand what was happening. There were about six young people like us and around 15 others in family groups. There was a large family of six, another family of five, and a few more in similar arrangements.”
“They kept asking what was happening. No one knew for sure what was going on or when we’d leave. The pilot kept talking, saying he didn’t know if or when we’d be leaving Pakistan, but eventually we took off after about two hours.”
Israel’s National Security Council writes in its travel warning: “Given the presence and intense activity of terrorist and radical Islamist groups throughout Pakistan, combined with the hostility of the Pakistani public towards Israel, there is a concrete risk to the safety of Israelis visiting/staying in this country.”
An El Al flight that diverted to Turkey on June 30 was refused refueling at the airport in apparent violation of international aviation laws.
El Al flight 5102 from Warsaw to Tel Aviv was diverted to Antalya around 3 p.m. after a passenger fell ill and required urgent medical attention.
The passenger was taken to a local hospital. For the next three hours, Turkish airport officials refused airline requests to refuel the flight so it could continue to Tel Aviv.
In the evening, the plane flew to the Greek island of Rhodes to refuel and continued on to Israel.
“If this doesn’t convince travelers not to fly with Turkish Airlines when they resume flights to Tel Aviv, I don’t what else will,” Mark Feldman, Jerusalem director of Diesenhaus Tours, told JNS. “I have nothing against the Turkish people but Turkish Airlines is owned by an antisemitic despot who should be shunned at all costs.”
Flights between Israel and Turkey have been suspended since the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has again emerged as one of Israel’s most vociferous critics in the world.
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
