In Russia’s predominantly Muslim region of Dagestan, a furious crowd stormed an airport where a flight from Israel had landed on Sunday. This action led to the airport’s closure and the diversion of incoming flights
Several videos posted on social media showed a crowd of people inside the Makhachkala Uytash Airport (MCX) and on the runway, some waving the Palestinian flag, others forcing their way through closed doors in the international terminal.
Cable News Network, CNN verified in photos and videos that the crowd outside the airport held antisemitic signs that included slogans such as “We are against Jewish refugees,” and “There is no place for child-killers in Dagestan.”
A statement by the Dagestan Health Ministry on Sunday disclosed that clashes left at least 10 people injured, including two people in critical condition.
The airport was temporarily closed and flights were diverted, according to a statement from the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency, saying “unknown persons” broke into the facility.
The Red Wing Airlines flight from Tel Aviv arrived Sunday at 7:17 p.m. local time, according to Flight Aware, and was quickly surrounded by protesters upon landing.
In one video, a pilot takes to the speaker of his aircraft to say: “It is not safe to open the doors” because “protesters are below our plane.”
According to Russian state media TASS, “those gathered oppose the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin has been receiving extensive updates on the situation in Dagestan from various security agencies and local authorities, and has scheduled an extensive meeting for Monday evening to address the riots and alleged Western influence.
The incident is the latest to illustrate huge global tensions and divides over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, which was sparked by a coordinated October 7 attack by the militant group that killed some 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and the kidnapping of more than 200 people.
Isreal’s retaliation has been relentless, with Gaza under siege and heavily bombarded, inflaming tensions far beyond the Middle East.
Israeli strikes on Gaza have resulted in some 8,000 fatalities, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah said on Sunday, drawing the data from sources in the Hamas-controlled enclave. Around 3,000 of those killed are children, according to the same authorities.
Protests have erupted across the world, in support of both Israel and Gaza, with tensions often spilling over.
|CNN
