The Larnaca Yacht killings was a

terrorist attack Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

by alleged supporters of the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establ ...

Larnaca Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 144 ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

on September 25, 1985, followed by a ten-hour standoff with police.

Incident

At roughly 4:30 A.M, three gunmen stormed a

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

carrying in the city's harbour, proceeding to attack the three

Israelis Israelis ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵלִים‎, translit=Yīśrāʾēlīm; ar, الإسرائيليين, translit=al-ʾIsrāʾīliyyin) are the citizens and nationals of the State of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily of Jew ...

on board. Tourist Esther Palzur, dressed in a nightgown, grabbed a knife and tried to fend herself off. As the gunmen turned their fire on her, she tried to run up towards the deck but was gunned down before she could escape. The two remaining Israelis, Palzur's husband Reuven and their friend Avraham Avner, were blindfolded and kept as hostages by the terrorists, who threatened to kill them if Israel did not release 20 Palestinians who had been captured by the

Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...

. As Cypriot police surrounded the harbour, turning the crisis into a standoff, the hostage takers threatened to explode the vessel if they were not given their demands by 10:00 A.M. Their threat never materialized and the deadline passed without issue. The Egyptian Ambassador in the country was summoned to the scene after the militants made a request. The terrorists however refused to let a pair of PLO representatives attend the negotiations. At 1:55 PM, the attackers finally surrendered and left the boat, blowing kisses and making the

V for Victory ''V for Victory'', or ''V4V'' for short, is a series of turn-based strategy games set during World War II. They were the first releases for Atomic Games who went on to have a long career in the wargame industry. Like earlier computer adaptions ...

signs, before they were arrested by the police. The policemen went on to board to discover the two men's blindfolded corpses in the cabin; their feet and hands tied behind their backs. Esther Palzur's body was found lying on the ship's

guard rail Guard rail, guardrails, or protective guarding, in general, are a boundary feature and may be a means to prevent or deter access to dangerous or off-limits areas while allowing light and visibility in a greater way than a fence. Common shapes ...

; her gown torn and a gunshot wound in her stomach.

Perpetrators

Of the three perpetrators, two (Nasif Mahmoud and Elias Yehiya) were

Palestinians Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

. The third, who told the police that his name was George Hanna, was actually Ian Michael Davison, was an English carpenter and

Neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

from

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

who had joined the

after the Sabra and Shatila massacres. He had previously spent some time in

South Yemen South Yemen ( ar, اليمن الجنوبي, al-Yaman al-Janubiyy), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (, ), also referred to as Democratic Yemen (, ) or Yemen (Aden) (, ), was a communist state that existed from 1967 to 19 ...

, and was described as a "fervent supporter" of

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

. He was alleged to have been a member of the

Force 17 Force 17 ( ar, القوة 17) was a commando and special operations unit of the Palestinian territories, Palestinian Fatah movement and later of the Office of the President of the Palestinian National Authority, Chairman of the Palestinian Authorit ...

special operations unit, and was a bodyguard for several Palestinian politicians. An investigation by British authorities confirmed that he was a UK citizen. Many of those who knew him described him as a football enthusiast and a

skinhead A skinhead is a member of a subculture which originated among working class youths in London, England, in the 1960s and soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in th ...

Aftermath

Israel voiced "deep shock over the vile murder," vowing that the PLO "

ould Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد‎ (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames. Notable p ...

not escape punishment. Due to the fact that the shootings occurred on

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day's ...

, the response took later than usual. Israeli authorities asked Cyprus to hand over the perpetrators. As the two countries did not have an

extradition Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...

deal, this proved difficult to manage. Cyprus' Interior Minister, Constantinos Michaelides, was horrified by the killings and issued a condemnation of what had happened.

Spyros Kyprianou Spyros Achilleos Kyprianou ( el, Σπύρος Κυπριανού; 28 October 1932 – 12 March 2002) was one of the most prominent politicians and barristers of modern Cyprus. He served as the second president of Cyprus from 1977 to 1988. S ...

released a statement urging Israelis and Palestinians to keep the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...

out of Cyprus, adding that Cyprus "unreservedly condemn dthe murder of three hostages at Larnaca. This blood feud is no doubt a tragic affair..... I repeat my appeal to all to leave Cyprus entirely out of any disputes and conflicts among them." The three killers were charged the next month in a Cypriot court, accused of five counts of illegally possessing weapons and three of murder. A

Police prosecutor In certain jurisdictions, police prosecutors are employed by the police, as counsel for the prosecution, to present cases in court. Australia In Australia, all States and Territories (other than the Australian Capital Territory) employ Police Pros ...

noted that the gunmen had shot the two men in the head while they were blindfolded. Israeli forces later retaliated with

Operation Wooden Leg Operation "Wooden Leg" ( he, מבצע רגל עץ, ''Mivtza Regel Etz'') was an attack by Israel on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) headquarters in Hammam Chott, near Tunis, Tunisia, on October 1, 1985. With a target 1,280 miles (2,0 ...

, in which the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...

bombed the PLO headquarters in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

. That day,

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...

announced during a speech that Israel had not forgotten "the matter of Larnaca, and we will not forgive."

References

{{Terrorist attacks against Israelis in the 1980s 1985 in Cyprus 1985 murders in Europe Cyprus–Israel relations Larnaca Terrorist attacks attributed to Palestinian militant groups Terrorist incidents in Cyprus Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1985 Tourism in Cyprus Yachting Attacks on tourists 1980s murders in Cyprus 1985 crimes in Cyprus