1968 Israeli raid on Lebanon


The 1968 Israeli raid on Lebanon, code-named Operation Gift, was an Israel Defense Forces 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 Lebanon-based Palestinian militant organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The commandos from the Israeli army's elite Sayeret Matkal destroyed 12 passenger airplanes belonging to Middle East Airlines and Lebanese International Airways and two cargo planes belonging to Trans Mediterranean Airways.
There were no casualties reported in the raid.

Expenses

Of the 14 aircraft destroyed, 8 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.
Lebanese International Airways owned 4 of the destroyed aircraft which were 58% American owned.
Trans-Mediterranean Airways lost 2 planes owned by private Lebanese individuals.
The total value of the planes was estimated to be $43.8 million, of which British insurers initially agreed to pay $18 million, excluding all policies that did not cover acts of war.

Criticism

The attack draw a sharp rebuke from the US, who stated that nothing suggested that the Lebanese authorities had anything to do with the El Al Flight 253 attack.