Pro-Palestine crowd storms Dagestan airport to protest flight from Israel

A large crowd in the hundreds stormed an airport in the capital of Dagestan, a province in Russia, on Sunday evening in protest of a flight that had arrived from Israel.

Local authorities on Sunday closed the airport in Makhachkala and there were reports of several injuries, but no arrests.

“As a result of the incident at Makhachkala airport, there are injured [people], who are receiving medical help,” Dagestan’s health ministry said on Telegram.

Videos shared on social media showed a large crowd on the airport's landing field waving Palestinian flags and also showed some people checking the passports of passengers who had arrived in the city.

Dagestan's regional government called on its citizens to not participate in such protests, while also appealing to the population by voicing support for Palestinians in Gaza.

“It is not easy for each of us to stand and watch the inhumane massacre of a civilian population – the Palestinian people. At the same time, we urge residents of the republic not to succumb to provocations of destructive groups and not to create panic in society," the government said on Telegram.

Along with Chechnya, Dagestan is a Muslim-majority region in the North Caucasus area of Russia.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office condemned the protest, and said it expects Moscow 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".