TEL AVIV Ñ Israeli undercover security guards overpowered an Israeli Arab man who
lunged toward a stewardess of an El Al flight with a sharp metal object. The
attacker tried to hijack the passenger jet about 15 minutes before the end
of a flight from Tel Aviv to the Turkish city of Istanbul on late Sunday.
Nobody was injured. Officials said the struggle took seconds to
conclude.
Officials said the attacker was Tawfik Fukara, a 25-year-old Arab
citizen from northern Israel. He was traveling on an Israeli passport and
was not regarded as a security threat, Middle East Newsline reported.
Security sources provided the following account of the attempted
hijacking.
They said Fukara, who had purchased a seat in economy class,
wandered several times through business class and advanced toward the
pilot's cabin. The last time he left his seat, Fukara went into business
class and asked for a cup of water. When a stewardess asked him to return to
his seat to prepare for landing, Fukara rushed toward the cabin where he was
soon overpowered.
Authorities said they are investigating how the attacker smuggled aboard
a knife-like object that was four centimeters in length. Passengers are
closely questioned at the airport and sometimes searched when they arrive at
Ben-Gurion Airport for a flight.
The last hijacking of an Israeli airliner was in 1968. An official said
Israel has improved security at the airport and on El Al flights over the
last two years. The official said Israel has received repeated intelligence
warnings that Arab and Islamic insurgents are trying to hijack Israeli
passenger jets.
