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Flydubai hijacker likely targeted Ben Gurion Airport, sources say

cnn.com — October 5, 2026 at 06:01 PM UTC

Israeli sources say the alleged hijacker of a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv likely intended to target Ben Gurion Airport, Israel's main international gateway, according to an Israeli official and a source familiar with the matter. The suspect, co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami, was restrained by the captain and passengers after attacking the captain with a crash ax over Saudi airspace on September 30. Israel scrambled fighter jets as a precaution, and the UAE is leading the investigation into the attempted hijacking. Al-Hammami had reportedly been removed from a pilot track at Oman's national airline over extremist concerns. Israel's Transport Ministry said its procedures do not address threats from pilots, though crew names are submitted to authorities.

With a significance score of 2.4, this news ranks in the top 19% of today's 32754 analyzed articles.

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[3.9]

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[3.6]

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[3.5]

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[3.4]

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[3.4]

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[3.3]

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[3.3]

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[3.2]

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[3.2]

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[3.2]

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[3.2]

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[3.2]

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[3.2]

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[3.2]

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[3.1]

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[3.0]

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[3.0]

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[2.9]

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[2.9]

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[2.9]

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[2.8]

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[2.8]

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[2.8]

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[2.6]

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[2.6]

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[2.5]

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[2.5]

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[2.4]

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[2.4]

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[2.4]

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[2.4]

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[2.3]

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[2.3]

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[2.3]

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[2.2]

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[2.2]

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[2.2]

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[2.2]

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[2.1]

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[2.1]

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[2.1]

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[2.1]

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[2.1]

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[2.1]

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1d 14h

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[2.1]

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[2.1]

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[2.1]

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1d 20h

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[2.1]

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18h

[2.1]

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1d 21h

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[2.1]

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1d 11h

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[2.1]

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1d 4h

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[2.0]

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1d 20h

[2.0]

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17h

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[2.0]

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1d 19h

[2.0]

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1d 17h

[2.0]

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1d 19h

[2.0]

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1d 2h

[2.0]

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1d 14h

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[1.9]

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5h

[1.9]

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16h

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[1.9]

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1d 16h

[1.9]

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1d 4h

[1.9]

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1d 1h

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[1.9]

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6h

[1.8]

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1d 18h

[1.8]

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1d 20h

[1.8]

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[1.8]

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1d 19h

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[1.8]

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1d 20h

[1.8]

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[1.8]

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1d 8h

[1.8]

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[1.7]

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[1.7]

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[1.7]

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[1.6]

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1d 17h

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[1.3]

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[1.3]

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[1.1]

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[1.1]

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