Saturday, June 27th 1976.
On the morning of the same day, Air France Airbus 139 with 245 passengers took off from Ben Gullion Airport in Tel Aviv, the Israeli capital, and flew to Paris via Athens. At the transfer station in Athens, 59 passengers got off the plane and 56 passengers got on it. At noon, the plane took off from Athens airport, but lost contact over the Peloponnesus.
On this day, the Israeli government held a regular cabinet meeting. In the afternoon 1: 30, a report was sent to the cabinet meeting. The report wrote: "Flight 139, which took off at 9: 05 this morning and was carrying several Israeli passengers, disappeared, either crashed or was hijacked." Minister jacoby handed the report to Prime Minister Rabin.
Prime Minister Rabin, who was the chief of staff of the Israeli army, said to the young Minister of Communications jacoby based on his own experience: "If it is really hijacked, we must find out the information as soon as possible." However, this report from Gullion Airport only said that there were 245 passengers (including 83 Israeli passengers) and 12 crew members on flight 139. After taking off at the Athens transit station, the plane did not fly to Paris, but flew south.
The cabinet meeting discussed the countermeasures. At 3: 39 pm, headed by Prime Minister Rabin, Perez's Minister of Defence, jacoby's Minister of Transport, Aaron's Minister of Justice, Chadek's Minister of Justice and Gary's Chief of Staff formed a crisis countermeasure committee. Prime Minister Rabin said: "There are nearly 100 Jews on the hijacked passenger plane. The hijackers will use this as their trump card and will put pressure on Israel. "
The crisis countermeasure Committee didn't collect a few pieces of information until the evening. An intelligence report said: "The hijacker is an extremist of the Palestinian guerrillas, a colleague of the People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PELP) and a doctor, Wadia haddad." Haddad is an international terrorist.
At 8 am on June 28th, Minister Perez returned to the office of the Ministry of National Defense from the airport. Soon, I received the message that 139 landed at Entebbe airport in Uganda. Perez knows Uganda and President Amin like the back of his hand. Israel has supported and assisted him for many years. Uganda Air Force is trained by Israel Air Force. When Israel was founded, if it could not be established in its present place, Uganda would be considered as a preparatory place.
In the office of the Ministry of National Defense, Chief of General Staff Ger and his assistants have laid out maps and photos to study the possibility of using troops to rescue hostages.
However, the distance from Israel to Uganda is more than 4,000 kilometers, so fighters have to go back and forth without landing; The countries on the flight path of the aircraft are all hostile countries; The terrorists have the support of President Amin.
On the 28th, members of the crisis response committee headed by Rabin were in a gloomy mood, because there was news that Ugandan President Amin, with Palestinian guerrillas, appeared at Entebbe airport and said that he would act as a mediator between the hijackers and Israel. In addition, the hijackers isolated Jewish passengers from other passengers.
As you can imagine, President Amin's mediation actually complicated the negotiations. The isolation of Jewish passengers reminds people of the past when many Jews were killed in World War II.
On June 29th, Uganda Radio broadcasted the hijackers' request: release 53 terrorists held in various countries, including 40 from Israel, 6 from West Germany, 5 from Kenya, Switzerland and France 1 person.
On June 30th, after demanding the release of the detained persons, the hijackers issued a statement saying, "If you don't get an answer at 2 pm on July 1 Sunday (GMT 12), you will shoot the hostages and blow up the passenger plane." At this point, the Israeli government has been forced to make a decision as soon as possible.
However, after this afternoon, the hijackers suddenly released 47 passengers, including women, children and the elderly. The released passengers arrived in Paris late at night. According to them, the real intention of President Amin's mediation is doubtful: Jews are concentrated in another room and used as bargaining chips. An old Jewish woman was also one of the released hostages. Although the number of the Nazi German concentration camp was printed on the old woman's wrist, she was released because she could not tell from her passport that she was Jewish. The old woman said, "I shudder at the thought that what happened in the concentration camp 32 years ago will happen again."
The air base near Beersheba made a model similar to Entebbe airport in terms of runway and building facilities.
On the night of July 2, a field training was conducted in this base. Training is divided into classes according to the establishment of the attacking troops. The training of the rescue class is to rush into the building where hostages are held, identify hostages and guerrillas, kill guerrillas and rescue hostages; The training of the cover class is to suppress the counterattack of Ugandan soldiers; The training of blasting class is blasting radar, MIG fighter and so on. The training of the ambulance class is to transport the dead and wounded and treat them.
When the attacking troops enter the airport, in order not to be found, the sound of the aircraft engine must be lowered before landing. The use of runways should be limited to the shortest possible range. Take off and evacuate immediately after rescuing the hostages. If the runway is not available, you must land on a non-runway. To this end, the C- 130 Hercules transport plane conducted a three-hour forced landing training, and the chief of staff, Geer, also participated in the training. C- 130 Hercules transport aircraft, weighing 70 tons, has four turboprop engines, removes all ailerons, uses auxiliary jet engines, and quickly starts all four engines before releasing the brakes. In this way, it took off like a helicopter, took off, crossed the valley of the desert at night, suddenly accelerated, suddenly slowed down, fell from the sky and landed. These movements are thrilling and difficult. It's like a fighter plane, with its wings bent almost to break. After short-distance landing training, the plane can stop after taxiing 2 10 meters. Air Force Commander Pered has a certain understanding of Hercules transport aircraft, but Chief of Staff Geer is experiencing it for the first time himself, and he is really a little scared.
After comprehensive consideration, the chief of staff, Geer, set the attack time as 1 hour. In the worst case, including commandos and hostages, the expected death toll of the attack is estimated to be 30 ~ 35, which is better than the execution of all hostages.
The commander-in-chief of "Operation Lightning" attack force is Dan Jamron. His policy has three points: strict secrecy, sudden attack and quick rescue. The ground troops were commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Jonah Santa Nata Niamh. He was born in America, graduated from philosophy department of Harvard University, and is the son of a famous historian. His subordinates all call him "Nini" and respect him very much. The so-called "Nini" means "person" in Hebrew.
Although there is no loophole in the secrecy work, there is a rumor in the hospital where several doctors have been secretly recruited: "A rescue team may be dispatched." The pilots were told not to go out the night before the attack, but they protested that they wanted to spend the last night in their own beds. Because revealing secrets will endanger your life, you will never reveal secrets. As a result, the ban on going out was lifted.
On the morning of Sunday, July 3, the midsummer sun shone all over the earth. People who took part in the battle dressed in casual clothes, some took buses, some drove by themselves, and came to the air base near Beersheba in twos and threes.
Engineers who had participated in the construction of Entebbe airport building made the same physical model as the old terminal building according to the old design blueprint, referring to the satellite photos taken by American space satellites and the testimony of released hostages, and used it for the final training of the attackers. President Amin has a beloved black Mercedes. Now, in the main engine room of the base, there is also an identical car waiting to be attacked. At the same time, there is a reserve female soldier, while looking at the photo of President Amin, dressing up as a soldier with the same size as President Amin. However, whether to let soldiers take part in the battle can only be decided before the attack. Lieutenant Colonel Nata Niamh and his sharpshooters are also trying to make amends.
The morale of Israeli officers and men is high. Many people want to take part in the war, but the number is limited. Regrettably, some soldiers who lost the election shed tears. According to the analysis of the General Staff Department, which is finalizing the plan, judging from the anxiety of guerrillas and the sympathy of President Amin, it is possible to execute the hostages on the morning of the 4th.
In order to formulate corresponding countermeasures, it is necessary to know the exact time when President Amin returned to Entebbe from Mauritius. Although Prime Minister Rabin was prepared to take military action, he did not give up diplomatic negotiations. This is partly to paralyze opponents and partly to solve the situation peacefully. Major General Wei Ze, adviser to the Prime Minister, continued to keep in touch with the guerrillas. At 2 pm, he sent a report to Prime Minister Rabin; "In the absence of President Amin, the negotiation of exchanging hostages could not be held."
The Prime Minister instructed him to continue the negotiations patiently. The problem of refueling in battle is still a big problem. Because Boeing B-707 is a civil aircraft, refueling in Nairobi will not attract people's attention. However, the take-off and landing of military transport aircraft in Nairobi is not so ideal. Therefore, it was decided to take out 1 of the four aircraft as tankers, carry a large amount of fuel and special fuel pumps, and refuel the other three aircraft at Entebbe airport. It goes without saying that refueling under the eyes of the enemy is a special job of the crew.
Just then, I received the message that Hercules transport plane can also refuel in Nairobi. However, in order to prevent accidents, we decided to use a Hercules transport plane as a tanker. Stand by and watch at Mombasa Air Force Base on the outskirts of Kenya. However, this method requires the use of military bases and may involve Kenya in the incident, so it was rejected. So I decided not to use it as a last resort.
Regarding the attack time, it is necessary to choose the time when there are no passenger planes taking off and landing at Nairobi and Entebbe airports. It is now clear that no passenger plane landed at Entebbe airport from noon on Saturday 12 to 2: 30 the next morning. Therefore, the combat aircraft of Operation Lightning should leave the airport before 2: 30.
The specific division of operational command is as follows: the overall command is the commander of Pered Air Force, who takes the opportunity to command over Lake Victoria on the outskirts of Kampala; General Brigadier General took the C-1 30 with the number1in tandem to command attack force, and Lieutenant Colonel Nata Niamh commanded the rescue of hostages.
Four Hercules transport planes stopped side by side at one end of the base runway, resting their wings and waiting for orders.
The final negotiation of the battle plan began.
The attacker showed a schematic diagram of Entebbe airport. Lieutenant Colonel Nata Niamh gave a detailed account of the airport around the old terminal where the hostages were located, and showed photos of the hijackers one by one. He stressed: "Success can be decided in a few seconds. We must go all out to rescue the hostages and destroy the guerrillas. We must not let them have the opportunity to shoot. "
Ugandan soldiers used to be friends and students of the Israeli advisory group. Lieutenant Colonel Nata Niamh also instructed: "Don't kill them unnecessarily."
Finally, 280 attackers in different costumes lined up neatly in front of Brigadier General Deng Temlun. At this time, the players seem a little nervous.
The commander-in-chief of "Operation Lightning" is the commander of Pered Air Force; Commander-in-Chief of the offensive forces: Brigadier General Dentmullen; Commander of the rescue team: Lieutenant Colonel Natanyev; There are 280 players.
1 aircraft C- 130 attacked the terminal to protect hostages (photographed by two commanders);
No.2 aircraft C- 130 suppressed the Ugandan army, treated the wounded and transported the rescued hostages;
No.3 aircraft C- 130 destroyed the radar and fighter planes of the other side and transported the rescued hostages;
Unit 4 C- 180 refuels as a backup.
Each plane is responsible for the safety of its own plane.
The Boeing fleet is responsible for supporting the following tasks:
1 aircraft B-707, with overall command, communication and support (by air force commander Perez);
Unit 2 B-707, used to treat the seriously wounded (33 doctors on board, divided into two shifts, on standby at the end of the year);
In addition, it is equipped with 1 C- 130 aircraft to prevent refueling failure in Nairobi. There is also the C-1 30 aircraft of1,which serves as a transit point for the attacking troops to communicate with the Tel Aviv war room.
In addition, eight F-4E ghost fighters were used as escort fighters. To this end, a 1 tanker was prepared to refuel the fighter.
The B-707 aircraft with the number and logo of El Al Airlines had already taken off long before the departure of attack force. Sitting on the plane were Air Force Commander Pered and Minister of Operations Adam. Half of the space on the plane is occupied by communication equipment used for combat. Fly over Ethiopia and land at Nairobi (Mbaka Airport). The plane stopped in the restricted area to avoid being found. Apart from the police chief in Nairobi, only eight senior Kenyan government officials knew about it.
B-707-2 was also marked with the logo of El Al Airlines, and landed at Nairobi Airport on the same route, ready to receive and treat the wounded. The news that two B-707s landed safely and refueled was reported by the Nairobi office of El Al Airlines to Tel Aviv Airlines headquarters by telex, and the company also reported to the General Staff. This means that the attacking troops can go.
When the battle orders arrived at the troops, four powerful bulldozers were flying over the southern tip of Sinai Peninsula. All four aircraft are marked with the serial numbers of civil aircraft. Fly on the route of civil aircraft in accordance with the provisions of civil aircraft.
After receiving the order, the four planes immediately turned off their radios, kept their distance from the first batch of 1 planes and flew to Uganda in formation.
When leaving Israeli airspace and flying over the Red Sea, the formation lowered its flying altitude. In order to avoid Arab reconnaissance ships
In the detection, the formation sometimes flies close to the sea surface at low altitude, and sometimes directly rushes into the airflow. During the formation flying over the Red Sea, the F-4E ghost fighters escorted at a higher altitude. Soon, the formation changed its course to the right near Djibouti, flew into Ethiopian airspace, went south into the mountains and passed over Nairobi. As we approached Entebbe, the weather suddenly turned bad. Lightning and thunder, the plane shook violently. When the line of sight is blurred, the formation relies on radar to grope forward. Fortunately, the radar passing through the country seems to have not found the formation yet.
When Brigadier General Dante Mbasan and Lieutenant Colonel Nata Niamh reconfirmed the rescue steps, the formation began to descend to Entebbe.
Air Force Commander's B-707-1 took off after refueling in Nairobi, and has now arrived over Lake Victoria in the south of Entebbe, hovering at an altitude of 8,000 meters. The task of the air force commander is to track the movement of the attacking troops with radar. At the same time, keep in touch with the Tel Aviv General Staff and give necessary assistance to the attacking troops in case of emergency.
Four Hercules planes flew directly to Entebbe. Entebbe is quiet now, as if nothing had happened. Although the sky above Lake Victoria is shrouded in dense fog, the direction of Entebbe is clear and cloudless.
In the old terminal of Entebbe airport, the robbed people ushered in the sixth night. The exhausted hostages, perhaps unable to get used to the food here, all suffered from dysentery and diarrhea. The toilet is full of dirty things and stinks because there is no washing. At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, President Amin came to the terminal and said to the hostages, "I have made a lot of efforts to save everyone's lives, but the Israeli government is not good." He attended the meeting in Mauritius and returned home early before the meeting ended.
On the plane c- 130 1, Lieutenant Colonel Nata Niamh dressed as a black man and six men sat in a Mercedes-Benz, waiting at the back exit. As President Amin has returned to China, he has to give up his original battle plan of impersonating the president.
After a seven-hour flight, attack force arrived over Victoria Lake at 10: 40 pm (Ugandan time 1 1: 45) as planned.
Entebbe airport is still brightly lit. Soon, four planes divided into two groups began to descend. 1 and 2 planes landed on the old runway; Aircraft 3 and 4 landed on the new runway. Hercules 1 reported to the control tower: "The released terrorists have been dispatched." Request landing permission. The plane lowered the sound of the engine and began to land quietly. Soon, the plane touched the runway, made a dull noise, and then began to taxi. In order not to make more noise, the plane did not change the pitch of the propeller.
Afraid that the searchlight will shine soon, 1 left the runway and taxied towards the old terminal. Following the 1 aircraft, the No.2 aircraft also landed on the runway and took the attitude of emergency launch at any time. No.3 plane landed on the new runway, and 1 plane slid to the tarmac in front of the old terminal and stopped smoothly. The airport was quiet, and the airport guards didn't notice this sudden change.
The Mercedes-Benz put down from the plane headed for the sentry near the old control tower. The guard who just saluted didn't know what his colleague was, so he plopped down on the muzzle with silencer. The camouflage attack succeeded! When entering the building, Lieutenant Colonel Nata Nyam and his men wiped the black cosmetics on their faces and hands, and took off Ugandan clothes, so as not to be confused about which was the Ugandan soldier and which was the attacker. At this point, the control tower seems to have found something wrong, turned off the lights at the airport, and the whole airport immediately went dark. The last Hercules plane landed safely on the new runway in the dark according to the training requirements.
The attacker rushed out of the cabin and went straight to the terminal, shouting in Hebrew: "Lie down! Lie down! " Two guerrillas in the hall fired wildly with automatic rifles and pistols, but eventually fell in a pool of blood under the bullets of the attackers.
Some hostages thought that the guerrillas began to slaughter, and they shouted anxiously: "Israel! Israel! " Chajani Maimoni, 19 years old, who immigrated to Israel from the United States, was shot by an Israeli soldier as soon as she stood up and died on the spot. He is a good young man. During these six days, he delivered coffee to everyone, took care of patients and took care of many people. The chairman of an insurance company who was going to help him was also seriously injured. The battle in the hall ended in only 1 minute and 45 seconds.
In order to find the remaining guerrillas, Lieutenant Colonel Nata Niamh and his men boarded the second floor, found two guerrillas hiding in the toilet and killed them on the spot. Another guerrilla hiding in the north side of the airport building was also killed in the crossfire. In this way, seven guerrillas were killed and the remaining three escaped.
The rescue team quickly removed five injured hostages and four soldiers. Send it to the operating table of the second plane. The fighting at the airport entered the second stage, and Ugandan guards began to fight, especially the gunfire from the control tower.
The attack team led by Lieutenant Colonel Nata Niamh used anti-tank missiles and heavy machine guns to suppress each other's gunfire. Just then, I don't know who shouted: "Nini is hurt!" " "I saw Nata Niamh was shot in the back and his clothes were stained with blood. He once tried to stand up, but he fell down again.
During the attack, all Hercules planes never stopped and were protected by more than a dozen crew members. On the tarmac of the new runway of the airport, Ugandan fighter planes were blown up one by one by the blasting squad. The fire raged, burning the summer night sky red. Another group of attackers attacked the radar center and placed explosives on it. Attackers in jeeps with recoilless gun met at the entrance of the airport, destroying Ugandan troops who came to the rescue from Kampala. In addition, the attackers took photos and fingerprints of seven guerrillas who were killed and brought them back to China as evidence.
One of the four Hercules planes has only 80 minutes of fuel left. Considering that it is too dangerous to refuel at the airport where the explosion occurred, I decided to fly to Nairobi airport to refuel. Fifty-three minutes after the attack, the second plane carrying hostages began to take off, when it began to rain. The Israeli attack team decided to bring everything back to the country except shell casings, explosives and unnecessary fuel pumps. Soon, the members of the attack control tower and radar center also came back. After the second machine, the third and fourth machines also took off.
"Operation Lightning" was carried out almost completely according to the original plan, without any deviation. From 1 1: 00 in the afternoon, the first plane of the attacking troops landed at Entebbe airport, and gunshots sounded at 1 1: 03; The second plane with hostages left Entebbe airport two minutes earlier than the scheduled 55 minutes, and the last plane took off at 0: 30. Everything went according to plan. The four Hercules planes were intact. Of course, the attacking troops did not need the assistance of the B-707 that Air Force Commander Pered took.
This action blew up the 1 1 Uganda MIG, and 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed as a last resort. During the evacuation from Entebbe airport, 65,438+006 hostages rescued 65,438+003 people, three of whom were unaccounted for, and only Lieutenant Colonel Nata Niamh died among the attackers.
Mrs. Della Brock, a British hostage, was taken to Kampala Hospital the day before the attack because food got stuck in her throat. At the time of the attack, British diplomats in Kampala visited the hospital and saw Mrs Brock sleeping in bed. However, Mrs. Brock's whereabouts were unknown later.
In Tel Aviv's General Staff, relevant personnel gathered together and waited anxiously for the result of the operation. Air Force Commander Pered sent a report that the C- 130 plane of the rescued hostages was flying to Nairobi. Flight C- 130 to Kenya first arrived at Nairobi Airport at 2: 06 pm (Nairobi time). Commander B-707 also landed later. The wounded were immediately taken to a Boeing plane temporarily used as a hospital for treatment, and the seriously injured were taken to Kenya National Hospital by ambulance. Then, within 30 minutes, No.3, No.4 and 1 all landed safely. In order to facilitate security alert, the plane stopped on the isolated tarmac. Cohen, who was seriously injured, stopped breathing in the hospital at dawn because of ineffective treatment.
Two hours before dawn, four Hercules planes and Boeing command planes took off one after another after refueling and flew to Israel. The last hospital plane left a seriously injured hostage and two soldiers in the national hospital and also took off for home. Four powerful bulldozers flew into Israeli airspace and flew over towns and villages at low altitude. At 3 o'clock in the morning, when the news of the successful rescue of the hostages was broadcast on the radio, people cheered and welcomed the attacker back.
At 2: 20 in the morning, President Amin, who was sleeping in his official residence, was awakened by a phone call from Colonel Baleb in Tel Aviv, but at this time, the president did not seem to know about the sudden attack. Colonel Baleb said, "I really appreciate your kindness!" " When President Amin asked, "What does this mean?" At this time, the phone has been hung up.
At 5 pm, this time it was President Amin who called Colonel Balab. He first accused Israel of killing Ugandan soldiers ungrateful, but finally praised: "As a professional soldier, this attack is impeccable, and the Israeli special forces are really excellent."
Young countries need heroes. The Israeli government praised the great achievements of Lieutenant Colonel Jonah Santa Nata Niamh and promoted him to the rank of Colonel. Lieutenant Colonel Jonah Santa Nata Niamh was the only Israeli soldier killed. At the request of the people, the Israeli government decided to call this "Flash Action" "Jonah Holy Action", so that future generations will always remember the brave spirit of the martyrs.