Co-pilot in FlyDubai attack is identified, and other Mideast developments

The co-pilot suspected in this week’s FlyDubai attack has been identified as an Omani national, and the United Arab Emirates says he attacked the captain with the cockpit’s crash ax before trying to seize the controls.

Meanwhile, a hospital in Gaza says Israeli strikes have killed five people, including two from the Palestinian territory’s Christian minority. And a fire broke out at an oil facility in the Saudi capital, with no details released on the cause.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Saturday. Full coverage is available here.

Co-pilot is identified as an Omani national

The co-pilot suspected of stabbing the captain of an Israel-bound FlyDubai flight before passengers and others stopped the attack is an Omani national named Hamam al-Hammami, said three people with knowledge of the situation, including a Gulf and a Western diplomat.

All spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media. The Gulf diplomat said that investigations are underway to establish whether he acted alone.

The United Arab Emirates said that the co-pilot attacked the captain with the cockpit’s crash ax and tried to take control of the plane in a “terrorist attack.”

The co-pilot, who officials said nearly crashed the sharply plummeting flight with 182 people aboard, was barred from flying by Oman over concerns he had adopted extremist views, a separate person familiar with the matter said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.

— By Samy Magdy, Sam Mednick, Anna Johnson

Hospital says 5 people killed in Gaza

Israeli strikes overnight in Gaza killed five people, according to Shifa Hospital, where the casualties were taken. Four women were among those killed. A mother and daughter among them were Christians, a minority in Gaza, the hospital said, and the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, expressed condolences.

A large fire burned at the site, where the strikes tore a gaping hole in the ground floor of a multistory building. The hospital said that people were still reported missing beneath the debris.

Israel’s military didn’t immediately comment, saying it was checking for information.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 1,439 Palestinians in Gaza since a ceasefire was reached with the Hamas militant group nearly a year ago, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. Its figures are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It doesn’t give a breakdown of civilians and militants.

Israel says it is targeting Hamas and other militants who pose a threat, and in response to ceasefire violations, including occasional attacks.

Israel says it killed top aid to Sinwar

Israel’s army said Saturday that it killed the most senior Hamas figure in Gaza and the right hand man to Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.

Ali Ahmed Al-Amoudi was killed in an apartment used by Hamas, said the army. It said he was the deputy chairman for Hamas’ political bureau and that he was involved in decision-making surrounding the group’s attacks that sparked the war.

The army said Al-Amoudi took part in an attack in the West Bank in 1993 in which four Israelis were killed and in the killing of an officer the year later in Ramallah.

It said that today he is directly involved in rebuilding Hamas’ capabilities to fight.

Fires break out at a Saudi oil facility

A fire broke out at an oil facility in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, sending dense black smoke into the air, a witness said on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.

It wasn’t clear what caused the fire at an Aramco oil refinery. Authorities tightened security in the area and police blocked roads leading to it, the witness said.

The Saudi state-run Aramco oil company and the government-run Center for International Communication, which oversees foreign media in Saudi Arabia, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Saudi oil facilities have recently been hit in missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. A major escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis has revived Yemen’s civil war.

— By Samy Magdy

Houthi rebels in Yemen report airstrikes in Sanaa

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said that airstrikes hit the capital, Sanaa, as renewed fighting raged between the Houthis on one side and Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognized government on the other. Residents reported hearing three loud explosions.

The Houthi media office accused Saudi Arabia of launching the strikes but didn’t offer evidence. There was no immediate Saudi comment.

Yemen’s military claimed responsibility. In a social media post, a spokesperson, Col. Majed al-Nazili, said that “legitimate vital military targets” were hit. He didn’t offer details.

Iran executes a man over January unrest and detains more than 30

Iran executed a man convicted of firing at police during widespread unrest in January, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

The report identified the man as Siavash Jamshidi Kheirabadi, a resident of Shahrekord in central Iran. It said that he confessed to possessing weapons and firing at police, and was convicted on charges including moharebeh, Farsi for “waging war against God.”

The report didn’t say how the execution was carried out, though Iran typically carries out executions by hanging. Earlier this week, IRNA reported that Iran had executed two other men over violence during the January protests.

IRNA news agency also said on Saturday that Iran’s intelligence forces arrested more than 30 people accused of belonging to several groups accused of preparing for street unrest.

IRNA said that the arrests were made in the southern city of Sirjan. The intelligence ministry accused the groups of making large numbers of Molotov cocktails to damage surveillance cameras. It said that members of those networks had also participated in the violence during the nationwide protests in January, including destroying public and private property and attacking a police station in an attempt to obtain weapons.

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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.