Saudi Arabia has denied Israel permission to send a plane to pick up the passengers on a Flydubai flight that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia due to an incident on board, an Israeli official said, CNN reports.

Earlier, Israel was considering sending a military or civilian plane to Saudi Arabia to pick up these passengers traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv. However, Riyadh refused to allow an Israeli plane to arrive.

Saudi Arabia does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. Until 2022, Israeli airlines and planes flying to Israel were banned from even crossing the kingdom's airspace.

Saudi aviation operator Cluster2 said earlier on Wednesday that efforts were being coordinated to provide another aircraft to replace the aforesaid Flydubai plane and take its passengers to their destination.

A Flydubai airline flight en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv was forced to divert and made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after an attack in its cockpit. Israeli sources suspect the co-pilot stabbed the captain and attempted to hijack the plane. It is not yet clear what the attacker's specific motive was.