Kozo Okamoto, Japanese Red Army militant behind 1972 Lod Airport massacre, dies in Beirut

Kozo Okamoto, a former member of the Japanese Red Army who took part in the 1972 Lod Airport massacre in Israel, died in Beirut at the age of 78. The attack on May 30 1972, carried out on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), killed 26 people – including Christian pilgrims from Puerto Rico, a Canadian citizen and several Israelis – and wounded about 80 others. Okamoto was wounded, captured, and sentenced to life imprisonment, but was released in 1985 as part of a prisoner exchange.

After his release, Okamoto was granted political asylum by Lebanon, where he lived for decades. The PFLP announced his death on 23 July 2026, and his funeral procession with a body draped in a Palestinian flag took place in Beirut the following day. His death marks the passing of the last surviving perpetrator of the Lod Airport massacre.