{"success":true,"data":{"id":"9d716dee-e96d-484d-9dfe-996070d07ae2","title":"Kozo Okamoto, Japanese militant who took part in a 1972 Tel Aviv airport attack, dies in Beirut","summary":"US Edition Change Support Now × \"Clear search box\") Custom Search Sort by Relevance Date NewsNews World CupWorld Cup SportsSports CultureCulture LifestyleLifestyle MoneyMoney TravelTravel PremiumPremium More More Thank you for registering Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the si...","content":"US Edition Change\n\nSupport Now\n\n[×](javascript:void(0) \"Clear search box\")\n\nCustom Search\n\nSort by\n\nRelevance\n\nDate\n\n*   News[News](https://www.independent.co.uk/us)\n\n*   World Cup[World Cup](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup)\n\n*   Sports[Sports](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport)\n\n*   Culture[Culture](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment)\n\n*   Lifestyle[Lifestyle](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style)\n\n*   Money[Money](https://www.independent.co.uk/us/money)\n\n*   Travel[Travel](https://www.independent.co.uk/us/travel)\n\n*   Premium[Premium](https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium)\n\nMore\n\nMore\n\n### Thank you for registering\n\nPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in\n\n# Kozo Okamoto, Japanese militant who took part in a 1972 Tel Aviv airport attack, dies in Beirut\n\n## Kozo Okamoto, a Japanese militant involved in a deadly attack on Tel Aviv’s airport over 50 years ago, has died in Beirut at 78\n\n[Bassem Mroue](https://www.independent.co.uk/author/bassem-mroue)Thursday 23 July 2026 18:45 BST\n\n*   Copy link  \n*   Bookmark  \n\n## Bookmark popover\n\nRemoved from bookmarks\n\nClose popover\n\nLebanon Obit Okamoto(Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)\n\n### Your support helps us to tell the story\n\nFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.\n\nAt such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.\n\nThe Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.\n\n**Your support makes all the difference.**\n\nKozo Okamoto, the [Japanese](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/japanese) militant who took part in a deadly attack on Tel Aviv’s airport more than five decades ago, died Thursday in Beirut, the [Palestinian](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/palestinian) group that had been protecting him said. He was 78.\n\nThe [Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/popular-front-for-the-liberation-of-palestine), a faction that is the second-largest group in the Palestine Liberation Organization, said that Okamoto had been ill for a long time.\n\nOkamoto, who made rare public appearances since he settled in [Lebanon](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/lebanon) after being released from Israel, was known within the PFLP as Ahmad al-Yabani, or Ahmad the Japanese.\n\nThe PFLP said in its statement that Okamoto’s journey was “marked by immense sacrifices spanning for decades on the battlefields of struggle in support of the Palestinian cause.” The Palestinian group added that Okamoto “never compromised nor faltered but remained steadfast to his principles.”\n\nOkamoto had served 12 years in an Israeli lockup for a May 30, 1972 attack on the international airport outside [Tel Aviv](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/tel-aviv) that was thought to be carried out by members of the Japanese Red Army guerrilla group in a joint operation with the PFLP.\n\n[](https://gateway.app.carxplore.com/track)[Explore new and used vehicles across the board. Carxplore | [Sponsored](https://popup.taboola.com/en/?template=colorbox&utm_source=eslmedia-theindependent&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=alternating-thumbnails-stream-1x4:Mid%20Article%20Thumbnails%20II:)[Sponsored](https://popup.taboola.com/en/?template=colorbox&utm_source=eslmedia-theindependent&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=alternating-thumbnails-stream-1x4:Mid%20Article%20Thumbnails%20II:)](https://gateway.app.carxplore.com/track \"Explore new and used vehicles across the board.\")\n\n[](https://gateway.app.shopperexperts.com/track)[Car Repair Costs in North Charleston Might Surprise You Carxplore | [Sponsored](https://popup.taboola.com/en/?template=colorbox&utm_source=eslmedia-theindependent&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=alternating-thumbnails-stream-1x4:Mid%20Article%20Thumbnails%20II:)[Sponsored](https://popup.taboola.com/en/?template=colorbox&utm_source=eslmedia-theindependent&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=alternating-thumbnails-stream-1x4:Mid%20Article%20Thumbnails%20II:)](https://gateway.app.shopperexperts.com/track \"Car Repair Costs in North Charleston Might Surprise You\")\n\nIn the 1972 attack, Okamoto and two of his colleagues arrived in Tel Aviv on a flight from Europe, then collected their bags, in which they had packed rifles and grenades, and opened fire, killing 26 people and wounding dozens, according to AP reports.\n\nThe two Japanese with Okamoto were killed in the attack while he was wounded.\n\nOkamoto was sentenced to life in prison but freed in 1985 in a prisoner exchange between Israel and Palestinian guerrillas. He later gained political asylum in Lebanon, where he lived until his death.\n\nOne of the rare public appearances that Okamoto made was in May 2022 at a Beirut cemetery, where Palestinian militants and other personalities are buried, to mark the 50th anniversary of the attack.\n\nThe Japanese Red Army, a violent ultra-leftist group that had links to Palestinian militants, was formed in 1971 and took responsibility for several international attacks, including the takeover of the U.S. Consulate in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1975.\n\nThe PFLP is a radical faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization and gained notoriety after the simultaneous hijackings of four Western airliners in 1970 and the seizure of an Air France flight en route from Tel Aviv to Paris that was diverted to Entebbe, Uganda.\n\nThe PFLP said in a statement Thursday that Okamoto’s attack at the Israeli airport was in retaliation for a 1968 Israeli commando attack on Beirut’s international airport.\n\nThe leader of the PFLP, Ahmed Saadat, is one of the most prominent Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Saadat was accused of organizing the 2001 assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi, an ultranationalist who called for the mass expulsion of Palestinians.\n\nOkamoto and four other Japanese were arrested by Lebanese authorities in 1997 in eastern Lebanon after spending years illegally in the country, protected by Palestinian and Lebanese leftist groups during the chaotic days of the 1975-90 civil war. They were put on trial and the four were handed over to Japan in 2000 while Okamoto became the first person to get political asylum in Lebanon.","source_name":"The Independent","source_url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/palestinian-tel-aviv-lebanon-popular-front-for-the-liberation-of-palestine-japanese-b3020506.html","url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/palestinian-tel-aviv-lebanon-popular-front-for-the-liberation-of-palestine-japanese-b3020506.html","author":"Bassem Mroue","author_name":"Bassem Mroue","published_at":"2026-07-23T17:45:39.000Z","publication_date":"2026-07-23T17:45:39.000Z","image_url":"https://static.independent.co.uk/2026/07/23/18/Lebanon_Obit_Okamoto_586_1.jpg","category":"world","topic":"world","tags":[],"political_bias":null,"bias_score":null,"confidence_score":null,"credibility_score":null,"factual_quality":null,"reading_time":5,"word_count":860,"view_count":0,"breaking":false,"breaking_news":false,"ai_analysis":null,"fact_check_status":"unverified","archive_status":"hot","language":null}}