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Hundreds of people on Sunday stormed into the main airport in Russia’s Dagestan region and onto the landing field to protest the arrival of an airliner coming from Tel Aviv, Russian news agencies and social media reported.
Authorities closed the airport in Makhachkala, capital of the predominantly Muslim region, and police converged on the facility.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or arrests.
Russian news reports said people in the crowd were shouting antisemitic slogans and tried to storm the airliner belonging to Russian carrier Red Wings that had landed from Tel Aviv.
Video on social media showed some in the crowd on the landing field waving Palestinian flags.
The Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsia said all aircraft bound for Makhachkala, in the region of Dagestan, were diverted to other airports.
Israel urged Russian authorities on Sunday to protect Israelis and Jews in their jurisdictions following media reports of potential reprisals by pro-Palestinian protesters in Dagestan.
A statement by the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem said the Israeli ambassador in Moscow was working with Russian authorities. “The State of Israel views gravely attempts to harm Israelis citizens and Jews anywhere,” the statement said.
Israeli media aired footage from Makhachkala airport in Dagestan appearing to show scores of youths, incensed at the Gaza war, storming the tarmac in search of passengers from a flight that had been due to land from Tel Aviv.
In a statement released Sunday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel “expects the Russian law enforcement authorities to protect the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews wherever they may be and to act resolutely against the rioters and against the wild incitement directed against Jews and Israelis”.
Netanyahu’s office added that the Israeli ambassador to Russia was working with Russia to keep Israelis and Jews safe.
Reuters, AP
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