4th July 1976, 100 commandos from an Israel special force unit, led by LT Col Yonatan Netanyahu, successfully executed the extremely bold Entebbe rescue mission.
Based on information from MOSSAD, 100 commandos from an Israel special force unit, led by LT Col Yonatan Netanyahu, were sent on the extremely bold rescue mission to Entebbe.
Codenamed “Operation Thunderbolt,” the commandos flew thousands of miles over enemy territory to rescue Jewish hostages being held by terrorists in Uganda.
The rescue operation, which took a week of planning, lasted just 90 minutes.
Originally 256 passengers and crew were taken hostage when their plane was hijacked and forced to fly to Entebbe. Groups were gradually freed until just the Jews were left, who were informed they were all going to die. During the operation to secure release of the 106 remaining hostages, 102 were rescued, three were killed and one, Dora Bloch, was unfortunately left behind.
Five Israeli commandos were wounded and one, unit commander Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, was killed.
Yonatan was the older brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, who would later become Prime Minister of Israel.
After his death Operation Thunderbolt was renamed "Operation Yonatan" in his honour.
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