Former Child Hostage Recounts the Fear of Entebbe 50 Years Later

Marking 50 years since the hijacking of the Air France plane and the kidnapping of Israeli passengers to Entebbe, Shay Gross, who was six years old on the flight, described his memories in an interview on the morning program "The World This Morning". Even after five decades and despite his very young age at the time, he said the experience remains sharply engraved in his memory.

Gross recalled that the trip had felt like a family first, their first time leaving Israel and boarding a plane together, on what was supposed to be a dream journey to Los Angeles. He said the sense of normality continued during the stop in Athens, until sudden screams shattered it. "Suddenly I hear shouting, lift my head, and see the German terrorist and the German woman running through the aisles with a gun and a grenade," he said.

He remembered asking his parents what was happening, and his mother replying, "Shay, I don't know." Gross said he hid under a seat for two hours, not moving or crying, only feeling paralyzing fear. "Even at that age I understood," he said. Speaking about his visit to Entebbe last week, his first since the traumatic event, he said, "Nothing has changed. It all came back to me."