On June 27th, 1976, Air France Flight 139, with 248 passengers on a flight from Tel Aviv to Paris, was hijacked after taking off from an interim stop in Athens. Two members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and two Germans carried out the hijacking. After an interim stop in Benghazi, the flight landed in Entebbe, Uganda. The Ugandan government, led by Idi Amin, supported the hijackers. The hijackers demanded the release of 40 Palestinians held by Israel and 13 others held by four countries. They segregated the Israelis and non-Israeli Jewish passengers, confining them to one room of the terminal. The hijackers released all of the rest of the passengers but kept the Israelis and the Jews. The crew, refusing to abandon their passengers, also remained as hostages.

The terrorists had set a July 1, 1976 deadline but extended it to July 4th after the Israeli government indicated a willingness to negotiate. In the meantime, the Israeli government under Prime Minister Rabin instructed the army to devise a rescue plan for the hostages. This plan was given the final go-ahead on July 3, when Israeli Hercules aircraft took off carrying 100 Israeli commandos led by General Dan Shomron. The elite Sayeret Matkal unit spearheaded the operation.

Israeli forces swiftly stormed the terminal, resulting in three hostages being killed in the crossfire. All of the hijackers were eliminated. As the commandos began returning to their aircraft, they came under fire from the control tower. Three Israeli commandos were wounded, and the unit’s commander, Yoni Netanyahu, was fatally injured. The entire operation lasted less than an hour. Out of 106 hostages, 102 safely returned to Israel. Additionally, one hostage, Dora Bloch, who was hospitalized in Uganda, was murdered by Ugandan soldiers