In December 1973, Fatah, a Palestinian military organization executed series of attacks originating at Rome-Fiumicino Airport in Italy which resulted in the deaths of 34 people.

South Lebanon was referred to as Fatah-land, due to the almost complete control of Fatah and other military Palestinian organizations over this -officially Lebanese- area, which they used to stage attacks against Israel, mainly targeting civilians, and to engage in armed operations abroad, termed "acts of terrorism."

At the controls of the Boeing 707-321B (registration N407PA,[4] name Clipper Celestial)[5] were Captain Andrew Erbeck,[6] First Officer Robert Davison, and Flight engineer Kenneth Pfrang.

[7][8] At approximately 12:51 local time in Rome, just as Flight 110 was preparing to taxi, five suspects made their way through the terminal building, armed with automatic firearms and grenades.

Several of the gunmen ran across the tarmac toward the Pan American jet, throwing one phosphorus incendiary and other hand grenades through the open front and rear doors of the aircraft.

[12] An Italian border police officer, 20-year-old Antonio Zara, was shot and killed when he first arrived at the scene of the attack and tried to fight the terrorists, after the general alarm had been sounded by the airport's control tower.

After they landed in the Syrian capital's airport, Air Force Commander Major General Naji Jamil attempted to persuade the Palestinians to release the hostages, but they refused.

[14] An hour of negotiations between the terrorists and the Kuwaiti authorities ended with the release of all twelve remaining hostages[9] in exchange for "free passage" to an unknown destination for the hijackers.

The factors that came into play at this point were complex, and sparked a diplomatic case that saw the US and many Arab and European countries clashing over the fate of the terrorists and which nation had jurisdiction to prosecute them.

Italy's actions lend credence to the notion that the Italian government had decided to consider the tragic events at Fiumicino in terms of its "national interest", whereby it engaged in compromise that tended towards humiliation.

After gruelling international wrangling, in 1974, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat agreed to the suspects being taken to Cairo under the responsibility of their group, who would process them for conducting an "unauthorized operation".