Dozens of protesters stormed the Makhachkala airport in the capital of the Republic of Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim region in the Caucasus, on Sunday evening following reports of a plane arriving from Israel, leading to its closure to air traffic.

The protesters entered the passenger terminal, reached the airport runway, and crossed barriers in an effort to inspect departing cars for Israeli passengers, according to videos broadcast by the Russian news agency Zvezda and the "RT" channel that circulated on social media.

The Russian aviation agency announced that "following the incursion of unknown individuals into the navigational area at Makhachkala airport, a decision was made to temporarily close it to incoming and outgoing flights," confirming that security forces arrived at the scene.

Later, the government of the Republic of Dagestan announced in a statement that security agencies "are working" at Makhachkala airport, noting that "the situation is under control."

Videos also showed several protesters raising Palestinian flags.

This incursion came amid the ongoing war between Israeli occupation forces and Hamas since October 7, which has claimed thousands of lives.

The Israeli occupation authorities urged Russia in a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office to "protect" its nationals.

The statement also said that "Israel expects the Russian authorities to protect all Israeli nationals and all Jews, and to take decisive action against rioters and against incitement to violence against Jews and Israelis."

A video showed protesters gathered around a "Red Wings" Russian airline plane at the airport, with a man walking along its wing.

According to the Flight Radar website, which specializes in tracking air traffic, a flight from this airline arriving from Tel Aviv landed at 7 PM local time (16:00 UTC) in Makhachkala airport. According to the independent Russian site "Sota," the flight landed via transit and is scheduled to take off again towards Moscow.

No information was available on whether the plane remained on the runway and the status of its passengers.

Before storming the arrivals hall, some protesters also attempted to check the passports of people leaving the airport in search of Israeli citizens.

One was seen holding a sign that read "No place for child killers in Dagestan," while others chanted "God is Great," according to videos.

Earlier today, Ahmed Dudayev, the information minister of the neighboring Chechen Republic, called via Telegram for calm in the face of rising tensions in the Russian Caucasus and to avoid "provocations."

He added in a video recording that attacks targeting Jews "will play into the hands of our enemies who deliberately provoke the world in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

The editor-in-chief of the Kremlin-affiliated "RT" channel, Margarita Simonyan, commented on the platform "X," saying, "What is happening now in Makhachkala is bad. Very bad."