This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack during the Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany , carried out by eight members of the Palestinian militant organisation Black September. The militants infiltrated the Olympic Village , killed two members of the Israeli Olympic team , and took nine other Israeli team members hostage.
Those hostages were later also killed by the militants during a failed rescue attempt. Black September commander and negotiator Luttif Afif named the operation " Iqrit and Biram ", [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] after two Palestinian Christian villages whose inhabitants were expelled by Israel during the Palestine war. The list included detainees.
West German police from the Bavarian State Police ambushed the terrorists, killing five of the eight Black September members, but the rescue attempt failed, resulting in the deaths of all the hostages.
A West German police officer was also killed in the crossfire. The West German government faced criticism for the rescue attempt and its handling of the incident. The three surviving perpetrators were arrested but were released the following month in a hostage exchange after the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight By then the Israeli government had launched an assassination campaign , which authorised Mossad to track down and kill anyone who had played a role in the attack.
Security personnel, known as OLYs, were inconspicuous and primarily prepared to handle ticket fraud and drunkenness. Athletes could bypass security and enter other countries' rooms by climbing over the 2 m 6 ft 7 in -high chain-link fence surrounding the Olympic Village, rather than using the official entrances. The absence of armed personnel worried Israeli delegation head Shmuel Lalkin even before his team arrived in Munich.
