International incidents El Al Flight 426 was an El Al passenger flight hijacked on 23 July 1968 by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), setting off a wave of hijackings by the PFLP.

As the coffee was being brought up to the pilots, two of hijackers associated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) forced their way through the door to the flight deck.

The hijackers were carefully chosen by the PFLP because of their occupations (a pilot, an army officer, and a karate teacher).

[citation needed] The Israeli and Algerian governments negotiated the return of the hostages and plane through diplomatic channels.

[5][6] According to David C. Rapoport, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the modern wave of left-wing terrorism began with the hijacking of the El Al Flight 426 in the context of the political unrest of 1968.