1988 Negev bus hijacking — the full case file

The army's elite Sayeret Matkal unit received the wrong location and arrived after police commandos had already taken charge of the standoff. Three armed Palestine Liberation Organization militants hijacked an Israeli civilian bus carrying workers to the Negev Nuclear Research Center on 7 March 1988, taking 11 hostages and executing two before Israel's Yamam counter-terrorism unit stormed the bus, killing all three hijackers; a third hostage was killed during the assault. On March 7, 1988, three armed PLO militants cross the Egypt–Israel border near Ramat Nafha and commandeer a military vehicle after firing on four unarmed soldiers. On March 7, 1988, Gunmen crash through a police roadblock near the Dimona–Yeruham junction and fire on a mini-van and a semi-trailer. On March 7, 1988, Hijackers seize a bus carrying workers to the Negev Nuclear Research Center near the Bedouin village of Aroer, taking 11 hostages. On March 7, 1988, Hijackers execute hostages Victor Ram and Miriam Ben-Yair after their 30-minute ultimatum expires. On March 7, 1988, Yamam storms the bus in a 30–40 second operation, killing all three hijackers; hostage Rina Shiratky is killed by the hijackers during the assault. The case is recorded as solved. This case file is kept in memory of Victor Ram, Rina Shiratky, and Miriam Ben-Yair. The full sourced case file, with every fact cited, is at casepin dot org.

Transcript from the video’s narration track. For every source, open the case file.