On the night of 6 March 1975, eight Palestinians in two boats landed on the Tel Aviv beach at the foot of
Allenby Street. The militants escaped the beach onto a street corner, leaving much of their weaponry behind in the boats. They then crossed onto Herbert Samuel Street, where they shot and threw
grenades. Unable to locate their original targets, they tried but failed to break into a cinema. Afterwards, they continued down the street and took over the Savoy Hotel, at the corner of HaYarkon and Geula streets, near the center of the city. The Savoy Hotel was picked due to it being the only illuminated building on the street. During the takeover of the hotel, three people were killed. Three people managed to escape in the confusion, but most guests and staff were taken hostage and taken to the top floor of the building. Private Moshe Deutschmann, a soldier from the Israeli army's
Golani Brigade who was on home leave at the time, grabbed his weapon and ran to the hotel after hearing gunfire. Meanwhile, some militants attempted to leave the hotel. Deutschmann saw them at the entrance to the hotel and engaged them. In the exchange of fire, Deutschmann was hit. He managed to crawl away, and was later evacuated to
Hadassah Medical Center, where he died of his injuries. Deutschmann was posthumously awarded the
Medal of Distinguished Service. Israeli security forces soon arrived on the scene, and the Palestinians barricaded themselves in the hotel with their hostages, detonated an explosive charge which caused part of the building to collapse, and threatened that if Israel did not release 20 Palestinian prisoners within four hours, the hostages would be executed. According to an eyewitness account: When I went into the street, I saw a nightmarish spectacle. Red tracer bullets streaked through the night air. The four-story Savoy Hotel, illuminated by floodlights, was surrounded by troops, local police and border police in full battle regalia. Military vehicles, armored cars and personnel carriers clogged the surrounding streets. Red Magen David ambulance crews were administering first aid to wounded civilians on the sidewalks and gutters. Looking out to sea, the blinding light of magnesium flares revealed naval patrol boats cruising just off the beach. Israeli security forces conducted negotiations with the militants. One hostage, Kochava Levy, became a mediator between the security forces and militants, as she spoke Arabic. During the negotiations, Levy provided the security forces detailed information on the militants. Early the next morning, the Israeli
counter-terrorism unit
Sayeret Matkal stormed the hotel, killing seven of the perpetrators and capturing the eighth. Two Sayeret Matkal soldiers, Colonel
Uzi Yairi and Sergeant Itamar Ben-David, were also killed. Five hostages were freed, while five were killed. A few hours after the rescue operation, the boat that had transported the militants was captured on the high seas by the
Israeli Navy. After the boat was detected by a reconnaissance aircraft, the
Sa'ar 3-class missile boat INS ''Ga'ash'' and the
Sa'ar 2-class missile boat INS
Miznak moved to intercept it. They captured the boat about 70 miles off the coast of
Hadera, and its crew was arrested. Two of the crew, who were Egyptian, were released, while the others were tried and convicted. One was sentenced to life imprisonment, while three others were given prison terms of 5–10 years. ==Assailants==