VFI News Passengers Storm the Cockpit to Save a Flight Carrying 174 to Israel; IDF Chief Cancels US Trip as Alert Rises on Every Front

The UN just gave a standing ovation to Mahmoud Abbas and applauded Erdogan calling Israel a "concentration camp" — then walked out on Netanyahu. Zechariah saw this moment coming thousands of years ago.

This week's VFI News covers one of the most striking UNGA sessions in recent memory — and what it means for Israel, the nations, and the prophetic timeline we're living through.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the UN electronically from Ramallah — the US State Department denied him a visa — and still received a standing ovation. Iranian President Pezeshkian spoke to a full and respectful hall. Turkish President Erdoğan accused Israel of a "genocidal mindset" to sustained applause. Outgoing UN Secretary General Guterres called Gaza the worst humanitarian crisis of his tenure — a claim that doesn't survive basic mathematical scrutiny given Syria's 500,000+ deaths and Iran's own brutal internal crackdowns.

Meanwhile in Jerusalem, Israel and its Christian friends celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles — Sukkot — just as Zechariah 14:16 commands all nations will one day do.

We also look at Trump rejecting the IRGC's offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and what that signals for the possibility of renewed conflict with Iran.

Psalm 33, Psalm 2, Zechariah 12, and Zechariah 14 all speak directly into this week's news. We break it down.

📖 Scriptures referenced: Psalm 33:10-12, Psalm 2, Luke 4:6, Zechariah 12:2-3, Zechariah 12:9, Zechariah 14:16, Genesis 11:1-9

🙏 If this encouraged or challenged you, share it with someone who needs to see it — and leave a comment with which scripture hit you hardest this week.

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Chag Sameach! As Sukkot draws to a close and Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah follow on Saturday and Sunday, all of us at Vision for Israel wish you a joyful end to this festival season. May the Lord, who gathers His people and rejoices over them, fill your home with gladness as the reading of the Torah begins anew. Moadim L’Simcha!

Vision for Israel invites you to Arise and Shine — A Day of Light, Faith and Hope in London: Saturday, October 17, 2026, 10:00 am–5:00 pm, St Marylebone Parish Church, 17 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LT. For details, visit our website and register HERE.  

Social media erupted after some of the world’s leading media outlets initially described the dramatic incident aboard a Flydubai flight to Israel on Wednesday, September 30, as a “brawl” or an “altercation between pilots” — wording critics said failed to convey the potentially catastrophic nature of what happened. The seriousness of the incident became increasingly clear as more details emerged. The flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was carrying 174 people when the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain, and the aircraft went into a steep descent, plunging nearly 14,000 feet in just 30 seconds.

Passengers and crew members forced their way into the cockpit and subdued the co-pilot, allowing the aircraft to be stabilized and diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. The co-pilot appeared to be attempting to crash the plane, and passengers intervened as the aircraft descended sharply, while Israeli authorities scrambled fighter jets amid fears of a hijacking. Yet some international coverage initially reduced the extraordinary sequence of events to a fight between two pilots.

The BBC first described the incident as a “physical altercation between the pilots” before later reports incorporated the stabbing, the passengers’ intervention, and the apparent attempt to bring down the aircraft; one of its presenters also referred on air to Ben Gurion Airport as “Ben Gvir Airport.” The New York Times drew criticism for describing the diversion as occurring “after a confrontation between the pilot and co-pilot,” and The Guardian referred to an “apparent brawl” while noting that Israeli officials were investigating whether the incident constituted an attempted terror attack. The Guardian defended its approach, writing on X that its headlines and live coverage included the facts it could verify as they were confirmed, and its coverage was subsequently updated as additional details emerged. (INN/VFI News)

“Dear Lord, we pray in Yeshua’s Name that You receive our thanks for the rescue of every soul aboard that flight to Tel Aviv. We thank You for the courage You placed in the passengers and crew who stormed the cockpit and for the steady hands that brought the aircraft back under control. We ask that You heal the wounded captain and calm the hearts of all who lived through those terrifying minutes. Please expose the truth behind this attack and guard every flight that carries Your people home.”

Elyakim Itali arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on the evening of Wednesday, September 30, to welcome family members returning from Japan. His eldest son and two grandchildren were due to land on a Flydubai flight, but within a short time he discovered that the plane carrying them was not heading for Tel Aviv at all. The flight had been diverted to Saudi Arabia, and during the first few hours, even the family waiting in Israel did not fully understand what had happened in the air.

“I arrived at Ben Gurion Airport at about 9:15, when the flight was supposed to land at 9:24, and I received confirmation that everything was fine,” Itali recalled. Minutes earlier, however, another of his sons had called about a Flydubai flight diverted to Saudi Arabia; Itali gave him the flight number, and then came the alarming news: “Yes, your family is on that flight.” Itali waited for some time at the airport and, when he realized the incident would continue, returned home; only later did details emerge, and another son managed to reach the passengers.

“Before we spoke to them, there was fear because we didn’t know what had happened,” he said. “At first they said it was a hijacking, and then we understood that they had dropped 15,000 feet in a minute.” His family heard a great deal of shouting, then saw a crew member emerge from the cockpit area with blood on his shirt, and described three Israelis entering the cockpit, one of whom managed to take control of the aircraft and stabilize it. Itali noted that 174 Israelis were aboard. The turning point came when the family learned the plane had landed and could speak with their loved ones: “They’re fine. They’re being taken care of by the Saudis,” he said. “There were a lot of miracles here, and we’ll recite Birkat Hagomel. There’s no doubt.” (INN/VFI News)

“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” – Psalm 91:11

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has canceled a planned visit to the United States, scheduled for October 2026, because of the security situation in Israel. The trip was to include meetings with the commander of US Central Command and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, focused on military cooperation over Iran and other threats. Zamir told his hosts that with the IDF on heightened alert across all fronts, he did not believe it was right to leave Israel and oversee events from abroad.

“You can’t put the military on alert and then fly abroad,” a senior IDF official said. Zamir has raised the military’s readiness level and ordered commanders to remain in their sectors through the Jewish holiday season, a particularly sensitive period from a security standpoint. Two active fronts are commanding particular attention. In Gaza, Israel has received a concrete warning that Hamas may attempt to abduct a soldier; Israeli officials believe Hamas is seeking to deter targeted killings by the IDF and Shin Bet while exploiting the sensitive period ahead of elections in the United States and Israel, calculating that political constraints could limit Israel’s ability to respond forcefully.

The second front is Judea and Samaria, where friction between Jewish residents and Palestinians has risen sharply following deadly terrorist attacks over the preceding two weeks at a spring near Neve Tzuf and at the Maccabim checkpoint, with renewed tension in the village of Jalud on the night of Monday, September 28, into Tuesday. For Zamir, the combination of the holiday season, events marking three years since October 7, and the upcoming elections makes the coming period especially sensitive, and the IDF is preparing for tactical incidents that could quickly spiral into a broader escalation. The alert level regarding Iran remains extremely high, and the IDF is prepared to resume fighting on short notice. (YNN/VFI News)

“Heavenly Father, we pray in Yeshua’s Name that You give Chief of Staff Zamir and our commanders wisdom and discernment through this sensitive season. We thank You that our forces stand ready on every front, and we ask that You frustrate every plan of Hamas to abduct our soldiers. Please protect our communities in Judea and Samaria and keep the threats from Iran from ever materializing. Watch over Your people as we mark three years since October 7, and let no evil find a foothold among us.”

The IDF announced on Thursday, October 1, that it had eliminated two terrorists who infiltrated Israeli territory during the October 7 massacre, including a Hamas terrorist who took part in the abduction of six Israelis from Kibbutz Be’eri. On Tuesday, September 29, the IDF struck in the Gaza City area and eliminated Muhammad Jamal Mahmoud Abu Al-Shaar, a cell commander in Hamas’s military wing. Abu Al-Shaar infiltrated Kibbutz Be’eri during the massacre and participated in the abduction of Sharon Hertzman-Avigdori, Noam Avigdori, Adi Shoham, Nave Shoham, Yahel Shoham, and Shoshan Haran to the Gaza Strip.

In a separate strike the same day in the Jabalia area, the IDF eliminated Musab Abd al-Jalil Saqib Balbisi, a commander in Islamic Jihad’s military wing, who also infiltrated Israeli territory during the October 7 massacre. Both terrorists had, in the preceding period, been involved in advancing terrorist attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians in systematic violation of the ceasefire, the military said, and they were targeted in order to eliminate the threat they posed. Prior to the strikes, measures were taken to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance.

IDF troops under the Southern Command remain deployed in the area in accordance with the agreement and will continue operating against immediate threats. In September 2026 alone, 70 terrorists were eliminated, including a series of senior Hamas commanders and 17 terrorists who participated in the massacre. Among the 70 were three brigade commanders, two battalion commanders, and nine company commanders; the 17 had been involved in the invasion of Israel, the abduction of civilians, and the holding of hostages in captivity. (INN/VFI News)

“Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.” – Psalm 97:10

This beautiful hymn is a prayer from Deuteronomy 26:15, expressing a great desire that God would look upon us with an eye of love, complacency, and delight—and to grant the promises that He has made to us for abundance and prosperity. Enjoy this warm, personal communication with God, set to serene scenes and timeless tones from the Land.

An attempted attack on RAF Fairford in Britain, which is used by the US Air Force and from which American bombers took off for strikes on Iran, was foiled after one of the suspects called the police himself, it emerged on Tuesday, September 29. It remains unclear why he called, and investigators are examining whether he wanted to back out of the alleged plot or whether the call itself was part of the plan. After the 999 call, armed police rushed to the scene in Gloucestershire and arrested the suspects, removing their clothing over concerns they could be wearing suicide vests; none were found, and suspected explosive materials in their vans proved unusable.

Early accounts had a farmer encountering the suspicious vehicles near the base in the early hours of Sunday, September 27, and calling 999, but the masked men he described were apparently armed police officers already at the scene. Counterterrorism chief Laurence Taylor said the police response that morning had been based on a range of information. Prime Minister Andy Burnham convened a COBRA meeting, the British government’s emergency response committee, on the afternoon of Monday, September 28, and urged the public not to speculate while the full facts were established.

One line of inquiry is whether the incident, which has been linked to Iran, was not a foiled attack at all but an intelligence-gathering operation, an exercise, or a “calling card” meant to send a message to British and US authorities. Counterterrorism police said the vans found near the base contained fuel rather than explosives. Police raised further questions on Monday, September 28, when they announced that all five suspects — British citizens from London aged 23 to 25 — had been released on bail, while Taylor said investigators were keeping an “open mind” about a “geopolitical” motive amid reports they were examining whether Iran had sent the five to attack the base. (YNN/VFI News)

“Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit they have made. The trouble they cause recoils on them; their violence comes down on their own heads.” – Psalm 7:15-16

US forces have withdrawn from their remaining bases in Iraq, raising fears they will leave behind a security vacuum, further embolden Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias, and give the resurgent Islamic State group an opening to regroup. The departure, celebrated as a victory by Tehran and its allies, was agreed in 2024 under President Joe Biden and carried out by Donald Trump’s administration even as it wages war against Iran. It comes 23 years after US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein, then triggered upheaval and chaos culminating in the rise of Islamic State.

While the departure is broadly popular among Iraqis, some worry that security forces trained and funded by the United States still cannot protect the country, where 4,500 American service members died in more than 20 years of war. “The lesson from the past two decades is that security vacuums can be extremely dangerous,” said Jassim al-Bahadli, an Iraqi analyst who advises the security forces. After invading in 2003, US forces occupied the country and fought a years-long insurgency before withdrawing at the end of 2011, returning less than three years later to help Iraqi forces defeat Islamic State in a war from 2014 to 2017.

In the 2026 conflict with Iran, seven of the 18 US service members listed as killed were in Iraq, the last an army sergeant who died during the controlled detonation of a drone at a base near Erbil in July. Iran, which says its ultimate aim is to force American forces out of the entire Middle East, casts the pullout as a triumph for its “axis of resistance.” “What is further concerning is not necessarily direct Iranian intervention, but the possibility that Iran’s proxies will feel increasingly empowered in the absence of a Western military presence,” said Baghdad-based analyst Ahmed Younis, while some Iraqi security officials warn the pullout risks giving new life to Islamic State sleeper cells. (TOI/VFI News)

A Florida man was charged in September 2026 with funding the Hamas terrorist group, the latest in a series of federal US cases alleging that operatives in the United States used fake charities to raise money for Gaza terrorists. Raed Yousef, 56, was charged with funneling tens of thousands of dollars to Hamas, misleading US authorities, and committing financial crimes. Investigators said Yousef conspired to fund the terror group together with a French organization, a Hamas member in Gaza, and a US citizen in Louisiana; the co-conspirators were not named.

The scheme began days after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel, around the time the French organization was established with the stated aim of providing aid to the needy in Africa and the Middle East. The defendants allegedly coordinated over social media and encrypted messaging platforms, including Snapchat, Instagram, Telegram, and WhatsApp, and routed donations to Hamas using platforms such as PayPal, GoFundMe, and cryptocurrency exchanges. The conspirators instructed each other to disguise their activities with codewords, referring to Hamas as “green” or “bread,” to delete messages after reading them, and to delete their communication apps when traveling.

Yousef sent more than $45,000 to the French organization knowing that the funds would be channeled to Hamas, and the French group sent more than $330,000 in total to cryptocurrency accounts controlled by the terror group, prosecutors said. The conspirators allegedly misled donors; in January 2024, Yousef told a co-conspirator, “Just tell them these are needy people in Gaza.” Other messages showed Yousef calling for violence against Jews, saying beheadings should be broadcast on social media “so they can be frightened.” He was charged with 19 federal felonies related to conspiracy, material support for terrorism, money laundering, and passport fraud, and faces a sentence of up to life in prison. (TOI/VFI News)

“Our Father in Heaven, we pray in Yeshua’s Name that You continue to expose those who raise money for terror under the guise of charity. We thank You for the investigators who uncovered this network, and we ask that You grant justice in the courts. Please guard Jewish communities in America from those who call for violence against them. We ask that You turn the hearts of those who hate Your people and bring them to repentance.”

A 33-year-old mother of four has regained full consciousness after spending months in a coma following severe, treatment-resistant epileptic seizures, in a rare and complex case treated at Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem. The woman, identified only as A., had been healthy and living an active life, working full-time and completing her academic studies with honors. Her ordeal began with what initially appeared to be an ordinary fever; when it persisted, her mother took her to the emergency room, and several days later her husband called an ambulance after finding her seriously unwell.

On the way to the hospital, she began suffering violent seizures, at one point losing her pulse, and a paramedic immediately began CPR. Doctors determined that she was suffering from prolonged, severe epileptic seizures caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain; she was sedated and placed on a ventilator to control the seizures and prevent further brain damage. For approximately two months she underwent intensive treatment at another hospital, including high doses of anti-seizure medications, biological treatments, and implantation of a vagus nerve stimulator, without significant improvement.

Her family was advised to transfer her to Hadassah Ein Kerem, where a multidisciplinary team of specialists in neurology, neurosurgery, intensive care, and anesthesia took on the case. After weeks of evaluation, doctors implanted thin electrodes deep in her brain to map the sources of the abnormal activity, then implanted a deep brain stimulation system of four permanent electrodes, in surgery led by senior neurosurgeon Dr. Sami Hyman, to disrupt the seizures. Within days of activating the system, the abnormal activity dropped dramatically, the sedation was gradually withdrawn, and A. opened her eyes. “A week after the surgery, she had already started responding,” her husband said. “Little by little, she came back to us. The fact that she woke up and is where she is now is nothing short of a miracle.” (INN/VFI News)

“LORD my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.” – Psalm 30:2

The suggestions, opinions, and scripture references made by VFI News writers and editors are based on the best information received.

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