Two major incidents occurred in 1972 . The Fatah subgroup Black September Organization hijacked Sabena Flight 572 en route to Vienna and forced it to land at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod , Israel . The PFLP and the Japanese Red Army carried out a shooting rampage at the same airport , killing twenty-four civilians . Israel later claimed that the assassination of PFLP spokesman Ghassan Kanafani was a response to the PFLP 's involvement in masterminding the latter attack . Two days later , various PLO factions retaliated by bombing a bus station , killing eleven civilians
shooting rampage at the same airport
Lod Airport massacre
Yasser Arafat