Today is the 35th anniversary of the hijacking of Air France Flight 139. On June 27, 1976, 246 passengers were held hostage as Air France flight 139 was hijacked by members of two terrorist organizations: the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Germany's Baader-Meinhof gang. The hijackers forced the plane to land in Entebbe, Uganda, where they received assistance from dictator Idi Amin in the form of weapons and troops. The hijackers demanded the release of 53 militants held in jails in Israel and four other countries. On July 1st, the hijackers released a large number of the hostages, keeping only the Israeli and Jewish hostages. Those hostages were rescued on July 4th by a team of 200 Israeli Commandos. In the 35-minute battle between the Israeli rescue team and the hijackers and Ugandan soldiers, all seven hijackers and 20 Ugandan soldiers died. Unfortunately, so did three hostages.
For more information:
Hijacking of Air France flight 139 at Entebbe Airport in June 1976, The National Archives, UK
1976: Israelis rescue Entebbe hostages, On This Day, BBC
Entebbe Rescue Mission, Jewish Virtual Library
Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research, Political Science
Urban Studies, Engineering
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