Munich massacre: Nine Israeli athletes die (along with a German policeman) at the hands of the Palestinian "Black September" terrorist group after being taken hostage at the Munich Olympic Games. Two other Israeli athletes were slain in the initial attack the previous day.
The Munich massacre was an attack during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, by eight members of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September, who took nine members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage, after killing two more. Black September called the operation "Iqrit and Biram", after two Palestinian Christian villages whose inhabitants were expelled by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The Black September commander was Luttif Afif, who was also the negotiator. West German neo-Nazis gave the group logistical assistance.Shortly after the hostages were taken, Afif demanded the release of 234 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and the West German–held founders of the Red Army Faction, Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof. Five of the eight Black September members were killed during a failed attempt to rescue the hostages, all of whom were killed. A West German policeman was also killed in the crossfire. The West German government was criticized for poor execution of its rescue attempt and overall handling of the incident. The three surviving perpetrators were Adnan Al-Gashey, Jamal Al-Gashey, and Mohammed Safady, who were arrested. The next month, however, following the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 615, the West German government released them in a hostage exchange. The Israeli government launched Operation Wrath of God, which authorised Mossad to track down and kill those involved in the Munich massacre.Two days prior to the start of the 2016 Summer Olympics, in a ceremony led by Brazilian and Israeli officials, the International Olympic Committee honored the eleven Israelis and one German who were killed at Munich. In the 2020 Summer Olympics, a moment of silence was observed in the opening ceremony.