Rambam Hospital

On October 7, 1985, four men representing the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) took control of the liner off Egypt as she was sailing from Alexandria to Port Said within Egypt.
The hijackers had been surprised by a crew member and acted prematurely.

Holding the passengers and crew hostage, they directed the vessel to sail to Tartus, Syria, and demanded the release of 50 Palestinians then in Israeli prisons.

After being refused permission to dock at Tartus, the hijackers executed one wheelchair-bound passenger – an American named Leon Klinghoffer – because he was Jewish, and threw his body overboard.

The ship headed back towards Port Said, and after two days of negotiations the hijackers agreed to abandon the liner for safe conduct and were flown towards Tunisia aboard an Egyptian commercial airliner.