“How Kenya Helped Israel Rescue 102 Hostages From Idi Amin’s Uganda”

“How Kenya Helped Israel Rescue 102 Hostages From Idi Amin’s Uganda”

In 1976, Kenya played a crucial role in one of the most daring hostage rescue missions in history. It all began on 27 June, when an Air France flight travelling from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by Palestinian and German militants. The aircraft was diverted to Entebbe Airport in Uganda, where the hijackers received support from President Idi Amin’s government.

The hijackers released most of the non-Israeli passengers but held 106 Israeli and Jewish hostages, threatening to kill them unless dozens of pro-Palestinian prisoners held in Israel and other countries were released.

Israel planned a rescue mission, but there was one major challenge. Entebbe was more than 2,500 miles from Israel, making a direct return flight impossible without refuelling. Through Kenya’s Minister Bruce MacKenzie, President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta agreed to allow Israeli Hercules transport aircraft to land at Embakasi Airport in Nairobi for refuelling and to establish a temporary medical facility. That decision made the mission possible.

On the night of 3–4 July 1976, Israeli commandos stormed Entebbe Airport, rescuing 102 of the 106 hostages. Three hostages were killed during the raid, while a fourth, who had earlier been taken to a hospital in Kampala, was later murdered on Idi Amin’s orders. The only Israeli soldier killed was Yonatan Netanyahu, the commander of the operation and elder brother of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Kenya later paid a heavy price for helping Israel. Idi Amin retaliated by ordering reprisals against Kenyans living in Uganda, straining relations between the two countries. On 24 May 1978, Bruce MacKenzie was assassinated when a bomb hidden aboard his light aircraft exploded over the Ngong Hills while he was returning from a meeting in Uganda.