Israel's Netanyahu in Entebbe to mark hostage-rescue anniversary

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Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is due to visit the scene of the 1976 Entebbe hostage rescue, in which his brother, who commanded the raid, was killed.

Israeli commandos freed more than 100 hostages held for a week at an airport terminal, in a daring operation. They returned to Israel on 4 July 1976.

Mr Netanyahu is also scheduled to visit Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda.

The Israeli leader has said the trip is part of an Israeli effort to "return to Africa in a big way".

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Mr Netanyahu will be the first sitting Israeli prime minister to visit Africa since Yitzhak Rabin's trip to Casablanca in 1994.

His elder brother Jonathan was shot dead as he led the operation to free hostages, who had been taken captive on an Air France flight by Palestinian and German militants.

Four hostages, at least seven hostage-takers and 20 Ugandan troops who were guarding the old terminal were also killed.

Almost all those freed were Israeli and non-Israeli Jews, who had been separated from other passengers by the hostage-takers. The Air France captain and his 12-strong crew were also rescued.

The non-Jewish passengers had been released by the hostage-takers earlier in the week.

Mr Netanyahu has called the operation "a very dramatic national experience" and one that had "great personal consequence" for his family.

Hopes for African support

Israel has launched a $13m aid package to strengthen ties with African countries, including providing training in security and health.

It hopes greater engagement will see it gain more support from African countries at the UN and other international bodies, where it is regularly condemned over its occupation of the West Bank and blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Israel played a role in helping newly independent African countries during the 1960s.

However, some sub-Saharan African states cut or limited ties with Israel in the 1970s following pressure from North African nations after wars between Israel and its neighbours in 1967 and 1973.

Relations were further undermined by Israel's friendship with the apartheid regime in South Africa, which ended in 1994.

Mr Netanyahu's trip follows two previous tours of Africa by his then Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

However, Palestinian government spokesman Jamal Dajani said he believed Israel's attempt to gain influence would fail.

African states would see through Netanyahu's "propaganda" because Africans and the Palestinians shared a history of "occupations and colonialism", he told AP news agency.