In this photo provided by the Government of Dubai Media Office, Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, left, visits injured Indian Flydubai Capt. Smit Machchhar at a hospital in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. (Government of Dubai Media Office via AP)

Australian authorities launched a probe into an Omani FlyDubai co-pilot’s time in Australia after he was detained over an alleged attempt to seize an Israel-bound aircraft and crash it.

Meanwhile, Israel bars the U.K. Green Party’s leader from entering the country, and ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey hold a trilateral defense pact meeting in Riyadh.

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

Australia and New Zealand probe FlyDubai co-pilot’s time there

Australian security agencies are investigating the Omani pilot’s time in Australia around a decade ago, Australian Federal Police said.

The FlyDubai pilot is in custody in the United Arab Emirates after he allegedly attempted to take control of the Israel-bound plane.

A police statement on Monday said a joint counterterrorism team, including federal and state police and Australia’s domestic intelligence agency, “is investigating the man’s links to Australia.”

New Zealand’s police agency also said the co-pilot had spent time in New Zealand and that the authorities would investigate.

News media have reported he was granted an Australian student visa in 2014 and arrived in Australia to start a university course in 2015. He left Australia in 2017, and his visa was canceled in 2019 after authorities confirmed he was no longer enrolled in the course, media reported.

1 killed and 2 injured in West Bank ramming attack

Israeli soldiers opened fire on three Palestinians in a vehicle that it said rammed a military vehicle in the south of the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Authority confirmed the military killed one individual and injured two others.

The military said the vehicle was driving “suspiciously” and had accelerated before the collision. It did not identify the Palestinians or provide additional details, saying no Israeli soldiers were injured in the alleged attack.

The Palestinian Authority said it hadn't identified the Palestinian killed, and that the Israeli military had blocked the Palestinian Red Crescent from reaching the injured people.

Israel bans head of UK Green Party after it votes to define Zionism as racism

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said late Sunday he was declaring Britain’s Green Party leader Zack Polanski barred from entering Israel and described the Party’s resolution as “a clear antisemitic text.”

The Green Party passed the motion earlier Sunday at its annual conference in Brighton, declaring itself “anti-Zionist.” The resolution said Zionism will be “treated as any other form of racism” and that the party supported a “single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.”

The Greens hold only 5 seats in the 650-member Parliament. Polanski, who was campaigning for the seat in Parliament held by former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, did not participate in the vote. In a statement with Green lawmakers and his deputies, he said that there was “no conflict between supporting the rights of Palestinians and the rights of Jewish people.”

Saar said the resolution “legitimizes armed struggle against Israel,” and an earlier statement by the Israeli Foreign Ministry also sharply condemned it and called it a stain on the U.K.

Iran executes 2 over violence at anti-government protest

Iran hanged two men over violence during anti-government protests in January in the central city of Isfahan that left four police officers dead, according to the judiciary’s Mizan news agency.

Mizan identified the men as Alireza Sepahi and Alireza Raisi. It said a group of attackers used guns, knives, axes, firebombs and other incendiary materials to attack police, vandalize property and set fire to buildings and public facilities during unrest on Jan. 8.

The judiciary said four members of Isfahan police special forces were repeatedly set on fire and killed.

Mizan cited witnesses as saying Sepahi and his cousin, Abolfazl Sepahi, attacked officers and that Alireza Sepahi poured gasoline over one officer and set him on fire while he was still alive.

Abolfazl Sepahi was executed July 28.

Sepahi and Raisi were executed after Iran’s Supreme Court upheld death sentences handed down on charges including armed rebellion, national security offenses and the crimes of “corruption on Earth” and “waging war against God.”

Iran has carried out several other executions linked to the January unrest.

Human rights groups have criticized the executions of protesters, saying the convictions were often secured through unfair trials.

Pakistan, Saudi, Turkish ministers meet in Riyadh

The foreign and defense ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are holding talks in Riyadh as part of a trilateral defense cooperation agreement, Turkish and Pakistani officials said.

The meeting of the Strategic Political and Defense Committee, established under the Mecca Joint Agreement, comes as Yemen’s internationally recognized government, backed by Saudi Arabia, has announced a major military operation against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels as they advance in the outskirts of a key city.

Pakistan said participants would discuss the latest regional developments and review ongoing cooperation under the Mecca Agreement, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement on Aug. 7, pledging to treat an armed attack on any one of them as an attack on all three.

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

News from © The Associated Press, 2026