Dagestan airport mob hunts for passengers on flight from Tel Aviv

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A mob stormed the main airport in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan late on Sunday, brandishing Palestinian flags and reportedly searching for Israeli passengers from a flight that had landed from Tel Aviv earlier in the day.

The angry crowds in the Caucasus region broke into the airport, stormed through the building and encircled the plane, with some attempting to board the aircraft, climbing on to its wings and roof.

Videos shared on social media showed dozens of men on the runway, with some accosting an airport worker who insisted that there were no longer any passengers on board. There are regular flights from Tel Aviv to Dagestan’s capital Makhachkala, often taken by passengers transiting to other Russian cities.

The violence appears to have been triggered by rumours that refugees from Israel were being relocated to the Muslim-majority region. Crowds also stormed a hotel in Dagestan on Saturday night, searching for Israelis, according to local media coverage. Kommersant reported that a Jewish centre under construction in Nalchik, the capital of the nearby Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, was also set on fire.

Before the airport in Makhachkala was stormed, videos posted to local Dagestan channels on the Telegram messaging app appeared to show dozens of men policing the airport’s exit, checking the passports of passengers leaving in their cars. “We are waiting for the arrival [of the plane],” a man could be heard saying in one clip.

Several protests in support of Palestine have taken place in cities across the Caucasus in recent days, despite strict rules prohibiting public demonstrations in Russia. Participants have expressed anger about Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza strip, which has killed more than 8,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry, and followed the attack on October 7 by Hamas militants which killed at least 1,400 Israelis.

Vladimir Putin has signalled a pro-Palestine position, and the Kremlin last week welcomed members of the leadership of Hamas to Russia for talks, including over Russian citizens held hostage by the Gaza-based group.

Russia’s Rosaviatsia aviation agency said that Makhchkala’s airport was temporarily closed on Sunday, with flights due to land there being redirected to other airports. Hours later, riot police were seen entering the building and the local government claimed that the situation was under control. The Russian investigative committee in Dagestan announced that it had opened a criminal case over a “mass disturbance”.

“The state of Israel views gravely attempts to harm Israeli citizens and Jews everywhere,” the office of Israel’s prime minister said in a statement, adding that its government was following developments in Dagestan closely.

“Israel expects Russian law enforcement authorities to safeguard the welfare of all Israeli citizens and Jews and act decisively against rioters and against wild incitement directed at Jews and Israelis,” the statement said, adding that Israel’s ambassador to Russia was working with Russian authorities to ensure the welfare of Israelis and Jews on the scene.

A member of Dagestan’s chief rabbinate said on Sunday that there were between 300 and 400 Jewish families in Derbent, a major city in Dagestan, and around the same number scattered around the region. He said that he did not rule out the possibility that members of the community would flee the region.

“The situation is very difficult in Dagestan, the community is very afraid,” Rabbi Ovadya Isakov was cited as saying in an interview with Podyom, a small Russian online media outlet. “Russia is not a panacea, there were pogroms in Russia too. It’s not clear where to flee to.”

Some of the rumours appear to have been fomented by a Telegram channel called Morning Dagestan, which has more than 50,000 readers.

The channel has been affiliated with Ilya Ponomarev, a Kyiv-based former Russian politician who opposes the Kremlin and claims to co-ordinate a group of Russians fighting against Moscow in Ukraine, members of which have been known to hold extreme far-right views. Ponomarev stated on Sunday that he had not controlled the channel for more than a year.