It said more details will be shared later.

The incident that caused the plane to issue an “unlawful interference” alert was apparently due to an altercation between the pilots on board the flight, Israeli media outlets reported, citing Israeli officials.

It was not possible to immediately verify the reports.

According to data from the Flightradar24 website, the aircraft suddenly lost altitude during the flight, dropping from nearly 34,000 feet at 05:21 GMT to less than 17,000 feet at 05:22 GMT.

Meanwhile, Israel said it was organising the safe return of Israeli passengers from Saudi Arabia.

“The incident is under control, and all measures are currently being deployed in order to return the Israeli passengers safely to Israel,” a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.