Japanese Red Army member Kozo Okamoto dies at 78

Japanese Red Army member Kozo Okamoto dies at 78

Japanese Red Army member Kozo Okamoto is pictured in Beirut while living in exile in the Lebanese capital on May 30 2022. His support group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said on July 23, 2026, that Okamoto died at 78 near Beirut. Okamoto and two other Red Army members launched the 1972 attack on Tel Aviv's international airport using assault rifles and hand grenades, leaving over 20 people dead.

Japanese Red Army member Kozo Okamoto dies at 78

Japanese Red Army member Kozo Okamoto dies at 78

Japanese Red Army member Kozo Okamoto speaks during an interview in Beirut while living in exile in the Lebanese capital on May 4, 2016. His support group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said on July 23, 2026, that Okamoto died at 78 near Beirut. Okamoto and two other Red Army members launched the 1972 attack on Tel Aviv's international airport using assault rifles and hand grenades, leaving over 20 people dead. ==Kyodo

Japanese Red Army member Okamoto wants to return to Japan

Japanese Red Army member Okamoto wants to return to Japan

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Kozo Okamoto, one of three Japanese Red Army members who staged a 1972 machine-gun and hand-grenade attack at Tel Aviv's Lod Airport (now Ben Gurion Airport) shown during a recent interview with Kyodo News in Beirut. Okamoto, who has been granted political asylum in Lebanon, said he wants to return to Japan as soon as possible. (Kyodo)

(5)Fusako Shigenobu

(5)Fusako Shigenobu

Fusako Shigenobu and Kozo Okamoto, members of Red Army in 1985.Fusako Shigenobu, the founder of the Japanese Red Army and a key figure in a series of international terrorist incidents in the 1970s, was arrested Wednesday in Osaka Prefecture and transferred to the custody of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, police said.Kozo Okamoto, were allegedly involved in a machine-gun and grenade attack on Lod airport in Tel Aviv on May 30, 1972 that left about 25 people dead and 80 injured. The airport is now called Ben-Gurion airport.

Red Army member Okamoto granted political asylum in Lebanon

Red Army member Okamoto granted political asylum in Lebanon

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows Japanese Red Army member Kozo Okamoto clenching his fist at his first trial at a Beirut court in June 1997. Okamoto, 57, was granted political asylum in Lebanon on March 17. Okamoto and four other Japanese Red Army members were arrested in Lebanon in February 1997 for using forged passports and sentenced to three years in prison. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in Israel for taking part in a terrorist attack at Tel Aviv's Lod airport in May 1972 but released in 1985 after 13 years in prison.

Japanese Red Army members to end prison terms

Japanese Red Army members to end prison terms

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A file photo shows Kozo Okamoto, 51, one of five Japanese Red Army members jailed in Beirut who will finish serving their prison terms on March 6 next year. The four aothers are Masao Adachi, Mariko Yamamoto, Kazuo Tohira and Haruo Wako.

Japanese Red Army members to end prison terms

Japanese Red Army members to end prison terms

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A file photo shows Kozo Okamoto, 51, one of five Japanese Red Army members jailed in Beirut who will finish serving their prison terms on March 6 next year. The four aothers are Masao Adachi, Mariko Yamamoto, Kazuo Tohira and Haruo Wako.