Entebbe raid

It was actually called Operation Thunderball/Thunderbolt by the Israeli military operatives who planned it and carried it out, and it was subsequently renamed Operation Yonatan after the raid commander, Col. Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu , the only Israeli soldier to die in the raid.

A week earlier, on 27 June, an Air France plane with 248 passengers was hijacked by a hijacker of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations (PFLP-EO) under orders of Wadie Haddad , who had earlier broken away from the mainstream PFLP of George Habash . The PFLP-EO hijackers consisted of two Palestinians and two members of the German Revolutionary Cells . The hijackers had the stated objective to free 40 Palestinian and pro-Palestinian militants imprisoned in Israel and 13 prisoners in four other countries in exchange for the hostages. The flight, that had originated in Tel Aviv with destination of Paris , was diverted after a stopover in Athens via Benghazi to Entebbe , the main airport of Uganda. The local government supported the hijackers and dictator Idi Amin personally welcomed them. After moving all hostages from the airplane to a disused airport building, the hijackers separated all the Jews, most of whom were Israeli, from the larger group and forced them into a separate room. Over the following two days, 148 non-Israeli hostages were released and flown out to Paris. Some 94 mainly Israeli passengers, along with the 12-member Air France crew, remained as hostages and were threatened with death. The IDF acted on intelligence provided by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad . The hijackers threatened to kill the hostages if their prisoner release demands were not met. This threat led to the planning of the rescue operation. These plans included preparation for armed resistance from Ugandan military troops. The operation took place at night. Israeli transport planes carried 100 commandos over 2,500 miles (4,000 km) to Uganda for the rescue operation. The operation, which took a week of planning, lasted 90 minutes. 102 hostages were rescued. Five Israeli commandos were wounded and one, the unit commander, Lt. Yonatan Netanyahu , was killed. All the hijackers, three hostages and 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed, and thirty (some say 11 ) Soviet-built MiG-17s and MiG-21s of Uganda's air force were destroyed. Kenyan sources supported Israel, and in the aftermath of the operation Idi Amin issued orders to retaliate and slaughter several hundred Kenyans present in Uganda. Operation Entebbe, which had the military codename Operation Thunderbolt , is sometimes referred to retroactively as Operation Jonathan in memory of the unit's leader, Yonatan Netanyahu. He was the older brother of Benjamin Netanyahu , the current Prime Minister of Israel. MHS US Department of Defense . The New York Times . Keesing's Record of World Events . 22 : 27888. Israel's Lighting Strike, The raid on Entebbe 1976 . (PDF-Datei; 2,3 MB) auf: zaoerv.de Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, 1977. The Knesset at Sixty .

A week earlier, on 27 June, an Air France Airbus A300 jet airliner with 248 passengers had been hijacked by two members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations (PFLP-EO) under orders of Wadie Haddad (who had earlier broken away from the PFLP of George Habash ), and two members of the German Revolutionary Cells . The hijackers had the stated objective to free 40 Palestinian and affiliated militants imprisoned in Israel and 13 prisoners in four other countries in exchange for the hostages. The flight, which had originated in Tel Aviv with the destination of Paris , was diverted after a stopover in Athens via Benghazi to Entebbe , the main airport of Uganda. The Ugandan government supported the hijackers, and dictator Idi Amin , who had been informed of the hijacking from the beginning, personally welcomed them. After moving all hostages from the aircraft to a disused airport building, the hijackers separated all Israelis and several non-Israeli Jews from the larger group and forced them into a separate room. Over the following two days, 148 non-Israeli hostages were released and flown out to Paris. Ninety-four, mainly Israeli, passengers along with the 12-member Air France crew, remained as hostages and were threatened with death. The IDF acted on information provided by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad . The hijackers threatened to kill the hostages if their prisoner release demands were not met. This threat led to the planning of the rescue operation. These plans included preparation for armed resistance from the Uganda Army . The operation took place at night. Israeli transport planes carried 100 commandos over 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) to Uganda for the rescue operation. The operation, which took a week of planning, lasted 90 minutes. Of the 106 remaining hostages, 102 were rescued and three were killed. The other hostage was in a hospital and was later killed . Five Israeli commandos were wounded and one, unit commander Lt. Yonatan Netanyahu , was killed. Netanyahu was the older brother of Benjamin Netanyahu , who would later become Prime Minister of Israel . All the hijackers and forty-five Ugandan soldiers were killed, and eleven Soviet-built MiG-17s and MiG-21s of Uganda's air force were destroyed. Kenyan sources supported Israel, and in the aftermath of the operation, Idi Amin issued orders to retaliate and slaughter several hundred Kenyans then present in Uganda. There were 245 Kenyans in Uganda killed and 3,000 fled. Operation Entebbe, which had the military codename Operation Thunderbolt , is sometimes referred to retroactively as Operation Jonathan in memory of the unit's leader, Yonatan Netanyahu. MHS US Department of Defense . The New York Times . Keesing's Record of World Events . 22 : 27888. The New York Times . Israel's Lighting Strike, The raid on Entebbe 1976 . The Knesset at Sixty . (PDF-Datei; 2,3 MB) auf: zaoerv.de Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, 1977.

1976 Israeli counter-terrorist operation This article is about the Israeli counter-terrorist operation in 1976. Dora Bloch ) 10 hostages wounded Benghazi Tel Aviv Entebbe Athens Sites associated with Operation Entebbe The Entebbe raid or Operation Entebbe , officially codenamed Operation Thunderbolt (retroactively codenamed Operation Yonatan ), was a 1976 Israeli counter-terrorist mission in Uganda . It was launched in response to the Palestinian-led hijacking of an international civilian passenger flight (an Airbus A300 ) operated by Air France between the cities of Tel Aviv and Paris . During a stopover in Athens , the aircraft was hijacked by two Palestinian PFLP–EO militants and two German RZ militants, who diverted the flight to Libya and then to Uganda, where they landed at Entebbe International Airport to be joined by other militants. Once in Uganda, the group enjoyed support from Ugandan dictator Idi Amin . Having hijacked the flight of 248 passengers on 27 June 1976, the militants took hostages with the stated objective of compelling the release of 40 Palestinian militants imprisoned in Israel as well as the release of 13 prisoners in four other countries. The hijackers had the stated objective to free 40 Palestinian and affiliated militants imprisoned in Israel and 13 prisoners in four other countries in exchange for the hostages. Over 100 Ugandan soldiers were deployed to support the hijackers after the flight landed, and Amin, who had been informed of the hijacking from the beginning, had personally welcomed the militants at Entebbe. After moving all of the hostages to a defunct airport, the hijackers separated all Israelis and several non-Israeli Jews from the larger group of passengers, subsequently moving them into a separate room. Over the next two days, 148 non-Israeli hostages were released and flown out to Paris. The 94 remaining passengers, most of whom were Israelis, and the 12-member Air France crew continued to be held as hostages. Representatives within the Israeli government initially debated over whether to concede or respond by force, as the hijackers had threatened to kill the 106 captives if the specified prisoners were not released. Acting on intelligence provided by Mossad , the decision was made to have the Israeli military undertake a rescue operation. The Israeli plans included preparation for an armed confrontation with Amin's Uganda Army . Initiating the operation at nightfall on 4 July 1976, Israeli transport planes flew 100 commandos over 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) to Uganda for the rescue effort. Over the course of 90 minutes, 102 of the hostages were rescued successfully, with three having been killed. One of the dead hostages, Dora Bloch , had been murdered by Ugandan authorities at a hospital in Kampala shortly after the Israeli rescue operation; she had fallen ill during the hijacking and was removed from the plane for treatment prior to the commandos' arrival. The Israeli military suffered five wounded and one killed; Yonatan Netanyahu was Israel's sole fatality of Operation Entebbe, and had led Sayeret Matkal during the rescue effort – he was the older brother of Benjamin Netanyahu , who would later become Israel's prime minister. The Israeli commandos killed all of the hijackers and 45 Ugandan soldiers, and eleven of Uganda's MiG-17s and MiG-21s were destroyed. Over the course of the operation in Uganda, Israel received support from neighbouring Kenya . Idi Amin subsequently issued orders for the Ugandan military to kill all Kenyans living in Uganda, leading to the deaths of 245 Kenyan-Ugandans and the exodus of around 3,000 Kenyans from Uganda. The New York Times . MHS US Department of Defense . The New York Times . Keesing's Record of World Events . 22 : 27888. The New York Times . Israel's Lighting Strike, The raid on Entebbe 1976 . The Knesset at Sixty . Ulrich Beyerlin: Abhandlungen: Die israelische Befreiungsaktion von Entebbe in völkerrechtlicher Sicht. auf: zaoerv.de Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, 1977.

1976 Israeli counter-terrorist operation This article is about the Israeli counter-terrorist operation in 1976. Netanyahu) 5 wounded 7 hijackers killed 45 soldiers killed 11–30 Ugandan aircraft destroyed 4 hostages killed (incl. Dora Bloch ) 10 hostages wounded Benghazi Tel Aviv Entebbe Athens Sites associated with Operation Entebbe The Entebbe raid , also known as the Operation Entebbe and officially codenamed Operation Thunderbolt (also retroactively codenamed Operation Yonatan ), was a 1976 Israeli counter-terrorist mission in Uganda . It was launched in response to the hijacking of an international civilian passenger flight (an Airbus A300 ) operated by Air France between the cities of Tel Aviv and Paris. During a stopover in Athens, the aircraft was hijacked by two Palestinian PFLP–EO and two German RZ members, who diverted the flight to Libya and then to Uganda, where they landed at Entebbe International Airport to be joined by other terrorists. Once in Uganda, the group enjoyed support from Ugandan dictator Idi Amin . A week earlier, on 27 June, an Air France Airbus A300 jet airliner with 248 passengers had been hijacked by two members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations (PFLP-EO) under orders of Wadie Haddad (who had earlier broken away from the PFLP of George Habash ), and two members of the German Revolutionary Cells . The hijackers took hostages with the stated objective of compelling the release of 40 Palestinian and affiliated militants imprisoned in Israel as well as the release of 13 prisoners in four other countries. Over 100 Ugandan soldiers were deployed to support the hijackers after the flight landed, and Amin, who had been informed of the hijacking from the beginning, had personally welcomed the terrorists at Entebbe. After moving all of the hostages to a defunct airport, the hijackers separated all Israelis and several non-Israeli Jews from the larger group of passengers, subsequently moving them into a separate room. Over the next two days, 148 non-Israeli hostages were released and flown out to Paris. The 94 remaining passengers, most of whom were Israelis, and the 12-member Air France crew continued to be held as hostages. Representatives within the Israeli government initially debated over whether to concede or respond by force, as the hijackers had threatened to kill the 106 captives if the specified prisoners were not released. Acting on intelligence provided by Mossad , the decision was made to have the Israeli military undertake a rescue operation. The Israeli plans included preparation for an armed confrontation with Amin's Uganda Army . Initiating the operation at nightfall on 3 July 1976, Israeli transport planes flew 100 commandos over 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) to Uganda for the rescue effort. Over the course of 90 minutes, 102 of the hostages were rescued successfully, with three having been killed. One of the dead hostages, Dora Bloch , was murdered by Ugandan authorities at a hospital in Kampala shortly after the Israeli rescue operation; she had fallen ill during the hijacking and was removed from the plane for treatment prior to the commandos' arrival. The Israeli military suffered five wounded and one killed; Yonatan Netanyahu was Israel's sole fatality of Operation Entebbe, and had led Sayeret Matkal during the rescue effort – he was the older brother of Benjamin Netanyahu , who would later become Israel's prime minister. The Israeli commandos killed all of the hijackers and 45 Ugandan soldiers, and 11 of Uganda's MiG-17s and MiG-21s were destroyed. Over the course of the operation in Uganda, Israel received support from neighbouring Kenya . Idi Amin , the then President of Uganda, subsequently issued orders for the Ugandan army to kill all Kenyans living in Uganda, leading to the deaths of 245 Kenyan-Ugandans and the exodus of around 3000 Kenyans from Uganda. The New York Times . MHS US Department of Defense . Entebbe: the most daring raid of Israel's special forces . The most daring raids in history. Arms and warfare: escalation, de-escalation, and negotiation . Studies in international relations. The New York Times . Keesing's Record of World Events . 22 : 27888. The New York Times . Israel's Lighting Strike, The raid on Entebbe 1976 . The Knesset at Sixty .