Attack on Lod Airport (May 30, 1972)

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Rewards for Justice is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information on those responsible for the May 30, 1972, terrorist attack on Lod Airport (now Ben Gurion International Airport) in Israel.

On that day, three members of the terrorist group Japanese Red Army (JRA) arrived at the airport on a flight from Rome, retrieved automatic weapons, ammunition, and grenades from their luggage, and opened fire inside the terminal, killing 26 people, including 17 U.S. citizens.

The gunmen conducted the attack in coordination with the terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which had trained the gunmen and had helped plan the attack. Two JRA members were killed by security personnel during the attack, but the third JRA operative, Kozo Okamoto, was shot and wounded and subsequently arrested as he tried to flee the airport.

In June 1972 an Israeli military tribunal found Okamoto guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment. In 1985, he was released along with more than 1,100 other prisoners in exchange for two Israeli soldiers who had been held captive by Palestinian militant factions.

After his release, he lived in Libya and Syria before moving to Lebanon, where he was granted political asylum and remains at large.

The JRA was formed around 1970 after breaking away from the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction. JRA’s stated goals were to overthrow the Japanese Government and monarchy. JRA conducted multiple attacks around the world, including the 1972 attack on Lod Airport, the 1975 attempted takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and the 1988 USO Club bombing in Naples, Italy, which killed five.

On October 8, 1997, the U.S. Department of State designated JRA as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended. On October 8, 2001, the Department of State revoked JRA’s designation as an FTO after the group disbanded.

The PFLP is a Marxist-Leninist group founded in 1967 by George Habash after splitting from the Arab Nationalist Movement. The group earned a reputation for committing large-scale international attacks in the 1960s and 1970s, including airline hijackings that killed more than 20 U.S. citizens. The Department of State designated the PFLP as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on October 8, 1997.