1968 Israeli raid on Lebanon
| 1968 Israeli raid on Lebanon | |
|---|---|
| Part of Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon | |
| Planned by | Israel Defense Forces |
| Objective | Destroy Middle East Airlines passenger planes on Beirut International Airport |
| Date | December 28, 1968 |
| Executed by | Sayeret Matkal |
| Outcome | Success |
The 1968 Israeli raid on Lebanon, code-named Operation Gift (Hebrew: מבצע תשורה), was an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Special Forces operation at the Beirut International Airport in the evening of December 28, 1968. The operation was in response to the attack on the Israeli Airliner El Al Flight 253 two days earlier by the Palestinian Lebanon-based militant organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
The commandos from the Israeli army's elite Sayeret Matkal destroyed 12 passenger airplanes1) belonging to Middle East Airlines (MEA), Lebanese International Airways (LIA) and 2 cargo planes belonging to Trans Mediterranean Airways (TMA).
There were no casualties reported in the raid.
1) references differ; less reliable reports quote a total of 13 aircraft
Of the 14 aircraft destroyed, eight (i.e. one Vickers VC-10 (on lease from Ghana Airways), one Boeing 707-320C, 2 Caravelle VIN, 3 Comet 4C and 1 Vickers Viscount) belonged to MEA, which was 30% owned by Air France, 5% by Lebanese individuals and 65% by the Intra Investment Company. Intra was an inter-governmental corporation constituted by the Kuwaiti, Qatari, Lebanese and American governments. The US was represented by the Commodity Credit Corporation which was owed money by Intra Bank, the predecessor of Intra Company, for wheat sales.
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