Kozo Okamoto, Japanese Terrorist Behind Lod Airport Massacre, Dies in Lebanon

Kozo Okamoto, the Japanese terrorist responsible for the 1972 Lod Airport massacre in Israel, died on Thursday in Beirut, Lebanon. Okamoto was the sole survivor of a Red Army Faction cell that carried out the attack in cooperation with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). On May 30, 1972, Okamoto and his group indiscriminately fired and threw grenades in the airport's passenger hall, killing several people. The other members of the cell were killed during the attack, while Okamoto was captured alive.

Following his arrest, Okamoto was tried by a military court in Israel and sentenced to three life terms. However, he served only 13 years before being released in May 1985 as part of the Jibril Agreement, a prisoner exchange orchestrated by the PFLP. In 2000, the Lebanese government granted him political asylum, and he had lived in Lebanon since then.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued an official statement mourning Okamoto's death, describing him as "the Japanese Ahmad," a hero who never compromised his principles. The group highlighted that although Okamoto was born in Japan, he dedicated his life to the Palestinian cause and became a symbol of international resistance.