Mossad's Nairobi station turned a family home into Entebbe's secret command post

While Israeli commandos prepared to enter Entebbe airport, another part of the hostage rescue was taking shape in a family home in Nairobi. Ynet's fiftieth-anniversary account describes the house of Eli Engel, Mossad's station chief in Kenya, becoming a secret command post for the mission.

The crisis began when Air France Flight 139 was hijacked after leaving Athens on June 27, 1976. The captives were taken to Uganda. The IDF's account, drawing on navigator Avi Mor's recollections, describes planners working with little information and a deadline that left a narrow window for a rescue.

According to Ynet, Engel's contacts survived the rupture in formal diplomatic relations between Kenya and Israel. He had been stationed in Nairobi since 1972 and developed ties with security officials. During the crisis, Israeli personnel were allowed in with notes carrying his name, the newspaper reported.

The support work extended to fuel and medicine. Ynet says Engel assigned an El Al employee to obtain fuel and clear an Air France hangar for a field hospital. Israeli residents were also asked to wait with cars that could take casualties to Nairobi hospitals if needed.

At Entebbe itself, the rescuers used a black Mercedes and jeeps to resemble a familiar Ugandan convoy. Mor's account describes the deception breaking down after an Israeli soldier fired at an armed Ugandan soldier. The force pressed toward the terminal, evacuated the hostages and brought its dead commander, Yonatan Netanyahu, out with them.

The rescued hostages and the force returned to Israel on July 4. For Engel's household, the aftermath was less public and more precarious: Ynet reports that his identity was exposed and his family fled Kenya under false names. The Nairobi account shows the hidden logistical burden surrounding the airport assault.