07/05/2026
🚨 106 hostages. 6 hijackers. One mission the world thought was impossible.
✈️ On June 27, 1976, an Air France flight traveling from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by six militants—four Palestinians and two Germans. The hijackers forced the crew to divert the aircraft to Entebbe, Uganda.
👥 After landing, the non-Israeli passengers were released. But 106 people remained hostage: 94 passengers—mostly Israelis, along with a few non-Israelis who chose to stay—and the 12-member flight crew.
💰 The hijackers demanded $5 million and the release of 53 imprisoned militants, including 40 Palestinians held in Israel. They warned that if their demands were not met, they would begin executing the hostages. ⏳
🇮🇱 When negotiations failed, Israel made a bold decision.
🌙 On the night of July 3, four C-130 transport aircraft secretly took off from Israel carrying elite commandos on one of the most daring rescue missions in history.
🛩️ Flying at less than 100 feet above the ground to avoid radar, the aircraft were supported by two Boeing 707s equipped with medical facilities. After a secret refueling stop in Kenya—made possible through a covert agreement with the Kenyan government—the force continued to Entebbe International Airport.
🕚 At exactly 11:00 p.m., the transport planes touched down with their cargo doors already open.
🚙 The commandos immediately drove out in a black Mercedes and Land Rovers designed to resemble the convoy used by Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Catching both the hijackers and their Ugandan allies completely by surprise, they eliminated the airport sentries before storming the terminal.
🗣️ Shouting, "Stay down! We are Israeli soldiers!", they entered the building and killed the hijackers within minutes.
💥 Three hostages tragically died in the crossfire, but 102 hostages were rescued. ❤️
🔥 As the rescued passengers were being rushed back to the transport planes, Israeli commandos came under heavy fire from Ugandan soldiers in the airport control tower.
🫡 During the firefight, the mission's commander, 30-year-old Lt. Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu, was killed—the only Israeli soldier to lose his life during the operation.
⚔️ Along with the hijackers, approximately 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed, and 11 Ugandan MiG fighter jets were destroyed on the runway to prevent pursuit.
✈️ The rescued hostages were flown safely back to Israel, where they and the commandos received a hero's welcome. 🇮🇱
😔 One hostage, 74-year-old Dora Block, was not at the terminal during the rescue. Unknown to the Israeli force, she had been taken to a nearby hospital after suffering a medical emergency.
💔 Humiliated by the operation, Idi Amin later ordered her ex*****on. She was taken from her hospital bed and murdered.
⚠️ Enraged by Kenya's role in helping the rescue mission, Amin also ordered the killing of 245 Kenyans living in Uganda.
🏅 Operation Entebbe is remembered today as one of the most daring and successful hostage rescue operations in history.
📸 The photo shows the squadron leader of the rescue aircraft being welcomed home after the mission.
