July 4, 1976: Operation Entebbe

Photo courtesy of IAF: One of the IAF planes
surrounded by the survivors upon landing in Tel Aviv

Operation Entebbe (initially known as Operation Thunderbolt) was a rescue mission performed by several IDF units in Uganda, 2,500 miles (4,000 km) from Israel, on July 4th 1976 – freeing over a 100 Jewish and Israeli hostages. 

On June 27th 1976, four Palestinian and German terrorists hijacked an "Air France" plane en route from Israel to Paris.The hijacked plane was first forced to land in Benghazi, Libya where three other Palestinian terrorists joined the hijackers. After refueling in Benghazi the plane took off to Entebbe, Uganda.

Upon its arrival in Entebbe, the terrorists released all the non-Jewish passengers and announced their demands and set an ultimatum: Israel must pay ransom and release terrorists, no later than July 1st. The Israeli Government tried to develop a dialogue with Ugandan President Idi Amin, who collaborated with the terrorists, while simultaneously preparations for a military operation began, based on intelligence regarding the situation in the Entebbe Airport.

On July 4th, after exhausting all efforts to end the situation peacefully, Operation Thunder Bolt was given a 'Go!'

Photo courtesy of the IDF: A black Mercedes disguised
 as Idi Amin's car during Operation Thunderball

The operation took place at night, as IAF transport planes carried 100 elite 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 and 103 hostages were rescued. Five Israeli commandos were wounded and one, the commander, Lt Col Yonatan Netanyahu (brother of Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu), was killed. All the hijackers, three hostages and 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed, and 11 Soviet-built MiG-17's of Uganda's air force were destroyed. A fourth hostage was murdered by Ugandan army officers at a nearby hospital.

The surviving hostages were flown to Israel with a stopover in Nairobi, Kenya, where some of the injured were treated by Israeli doctors and the planes were refueled. 

The mission, originally named Operation Thunderbolt by the IDF, was renamed Operation Yonatan, in honor of its fallen commander.

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