The three men arrived on an Air France flight from Paris and once their luggage had come through to the baggage hall, they drew out automatic guns and hand grenades and fired randomly at anybody in sight.

One of the men ran out onto the tarmac, shot passengers disembarking an El Al flight and then killed himself with his own hand grenade.

A second man was shot by security guards and a third was arrested.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said they had recruited the gunmen from the Japanese Red Army and said they "came from thousands of miles away to join the Palestinian people in their struggle".

In a statement, they said the raid was an act of revenge for killing two Arab hijackers who attempted to take a plane at Lod airport on 8 May.

Among the victims were 11 Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land from Puerto Rico.

Eminent scientist dead

A leading Israeli scientist Professor Aharon Katzir, aged 62, was also killed. He was professor of chemistry at the Weizmann Institute of Science and former president of the Israel Academy of Sciences.

All incoming airliners were diverted to Cyprus until authorities had taken control of the situation.

Israel's defence minister, Moshe Dayan and Transport Minister, Shimon Peres, arrived at the airport soon after the attack to witness a scene of carnage, with dead and dying people all across the terminal.

Israeli officials are expected to call on all international airports to improve their security measures.

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