Entebbe raid

The Entebbe raid, also known as Operation Entebbe and officially codenamed Operation Thunderbolt (subsequently Operation Yonatan), was a 3 July 1976 Israeli counter-terrorist mission in Uganda. It was launched in response to the hijacking of an Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris by members of the PFLP-EO and the German Revolutionary Cells, who diverted the aircraft to Entebbe International Airport with the backing of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Following the 27 June hijacking, the captors took the 248 passengers hostage with the objective of compelling the release of imprisoned Palestinian militants and international prisoners. Backed by over 100 Ugandan soldiers and welcomed by President Amin at Entebbe, the hijackers moved the hostages to a disused terminal. After releasing most non-Israeli hostages over the following days, the terrorists held the remaining 106 captives, predominantly Israelis and the flight crew, in a separate room. After initial debate over whether to negotiate, the Israeli government decided on a military rescue based on intelligence provided by Mossad, preparing for potential armed confrontation with the Ugandan 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. During the assault, the commandos rescued 102 hostages and killed all the hijackers alongside 45 Ugandan soldiers, while destroying 11 Ugandan fighter jets. Three hostages died during the raid, and a fourth—Dora Bloch, who had been taken to a Kampala hospital prior to the rescue—was subsequently murdered by Ugandan authorities. Sayeret Matkal unit commander Yonatan Netanyahu was the sole Israeli military fatality, alongside five wounded commandos. Israel received logistical support from neighboring Kenya during the operation. In retaliation, President Amin ordered the Ugandan army to target Kenyans, leading to the killings of hundreds of Kenyan-Ugandans and the exodus of thousands more from the country....