Kozo Okamoto, a Japanese leftist who took part in a deadly attack on Lod Airport in Israel in 1972 and spent much of his life in Lebanon, has died in Beirut aged 78.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which protected Okamoto during his years in Lebanon, announced his death on Thursday. It said he had suffered from a prolonged illness.

Palestinians knew Okamoto as Ahmad al-Yabani, or Ahmad the Japanese. He rarely appeared publicly after making Lebanon his home but remained a prominent symbol of international solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

The PFLP said Okamoto’s life was “marked by immense sacrifices spanning for decades on the battlefields of struggle in support of the Palestinian cause.”

It added that he “never compromised nor faltered but remained steadfast to his principles”.