is motives and background. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday:  As time passes, the picture becomes clearer: the attacker had undergone Islamist radicalization. He came to crash the plane, along with its passengers. 

He did not say how he reached that conclusion, but added:  We are investigating whether he was sent, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price. 

Netanyahu's spokesman Doron Spielman told NBC News that the alleged attacker  talks on his social media about killing Jews. 

The alleged victim of the axe attack, Indian national Capt. Smit Machchhar, spoke for the first time Friday from a hospital in Abu Dhabi.

Machchhar was widely praised for his efforts to prevent the plane from crashing, opening the cockpit door and allowing passengers and crewmembers to rush in.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Machchhar said he had been  severely injured  and  could sense that the aircraft was going down. 

 I was acting for my own life, but at the same time, I knew I couldn't let all of them die,  he said on a video call released by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adding that he told himself to  give just one last push  to the cockpit door.

Machchhar was injured in his stomach and head, his uncle Kishor Machchhar told NBC News in a video call from Mumbai on Friday.  We were very much worried about him,  he said, adding the family is hoping the captain will be discharged in two weeks.

A Flydubai spokesperson said Saturday:  We recognise that there are many questions at this stage; however, the circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation. We are therefore not in a position to comment further beyond our published statements. 

The spokesperson added:  We remain fully committed to supporting the ongoing investigation and are in close coordination with the relevant government authorities and regulators. 

President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that there would be renewed strikes against Iran if it was behind the attack.

 You just ask them,  he said.  They know what happened. They'll be hit very hard. 

There are no indications that Iran directed or was involved in the attack, a senior U.S. official briefed on the Israeli investigation told NBC News.

Matt Bradley, Babak Dehghanpisheh, Charlene Gubash, Gabrielle Nolin and Raf Sanchez contributed.