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- Israeli plane lands in Entebbe, Uganda, for the first time since 1976
Israeli plane lands in Entebbe, Uganda, for the first time since 1976
'This operation represents so much in Israel,' Thursday's flight commander told i24NEWS
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Thursday was a "historic" day for Israeli national carrier El Al, as a commercial aircraft from Tel Aviv landed in Uganda for the first time since the 1976 Israeli operation in Entebbe.
On June 27, 1976, an Air France plane flying the Tel-Aviv-Paris route via Athens was hijacked by terrorists linked to the Palestinian cause. The plane landed in Entebbe with the authorization then Ugandan president, Idi Amin Dada.
The kidnappers kept the hostages until the 3rd of July, when, during the night, an Israeli commando unit landed by surprise on the Ugandan tarmac and stormed the airport to free the hostages.
All the passengers were rescued, but Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu, older brother of the current Israeli Prime Minister, was killed during the raid.
![Air France passengers after they were released in the Entebbe operation in 1976](https://cdn.i24news.tv/upload/cache/large_content_image/upload/image/1475122189.jpg?width=750)
Thursday's El Al's Boeing 777 was piloted by Captain Itzik Gerber, who was 10 at the time of the operation.
"Like all Israelis, I woke up in the morning of July 5th, and heard about the bold operation in Entebbe," he recalls in an interview with i24NEWS.
"I really wanted to do this flight" Garber said, "this is a historic event. When we were on approach, and saw Lake Victoria, we realized how precise, how courageous the operation was."
The Ugandan government turned the airport into a memorial of the operation, and today, according to Garber, Operation Entebbe symbolizes the "friendship between the two countries".
"The whole crew went into the control tower and it was very impressive - we saw the bullet holes and we understood what had happened that night," he said.
"This operation represents so much in Israel," he added.
"I made flights but this one will remain the most impressive I have done," he concluded.