President Aliyev has blamed Russia for the airliner’s downing, which killed 38 people. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on Monday once again blamed Russian officials for the plane crash that killed 38 people on Christmas Day and called for them to be punished.

Four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan's investigation told Reuters that Russian air defences mistakenly shot it down.

Vladimir Putin has apologised for the Azerbaijan Airlines crash but stopped short of accepting responsibility for what he described as a “tragic incident”.

Israeli forces detained more than 240 Palestinians including dozens of medical staff from a north Gaza hospital they raided on Friday, including its director, according to the Health Ministry in the enclave and Israel's military.

In the crash’s aftermath, Azerbaijan has unleashed rare and stinging criticism of Russia, with the country’s president saying Moscow’s response has caused “surprise, regret and rightful indignation.”

Russia's leader apologises over the downing of an Azerbaijani plane in Russian airspace - without directly taking blame.

"The blame for this disaster lies with representatives of the Russian Federation," Ilham Aliyev said on Jan. 6.

Azerbaijan's president said on Monday that Russia was "guilty" over the downing of an airline last month that Baku says was shot by Russian air defenses. An Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 jet crash-landed in Kazakhstan on Dec.