Car rams barricade near Israel embassy in Tokyo, man detained
- 16 Nov 2023
Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after a car crashed through a barrier near the Israeli embassy in Tokyo, local media reported.
Video footage appeared to show that the Daihatsu car was driven through a temporary barrier and into a fence at an intersection around 100 metres (109 yards) from the embassy.
Media also reported that one police officer was lightly injured in the incident late morning in the Japanese capital.
The man arrested on the spot is a member of a right-wing group and in his 50s, the reports said.
Right-wing groups in Japan are generally not known for being critical of Israel or anti-Semitic.
A fire department spokesperson said only that they received "an emergency call (for an ambulance)... at 11.57 (am)".
Police declined to comment and the Israeli embassy could not be reached.
"Around 11:00 am, I heard a huge bang, so I went outside to check out. Then I saw a policeman injured and in pain near the traffic barrier and it looked like he was bleeding. There was also a black car parked nearby," a restaurant employee working near the embassy told public broadcaster NHK.
Countries around the world have stepped up security around Israeli diplomatic missions since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas last month.
On October 21 four people were arrested after a pipe bomb exploded near the Israeli embassy in Cyprus, causing little damage and no injuries, police said.
On October 14, an employee of the Israeli embassy in China was attacked in Beijing. A foreign suspect was arrested and authorities have not said anything about the case since.
There has also been a sharp rise in anti-Semitic as well as Islamophobic incidents around the world.
Israel launched an offensive in Gaza in retaliation for Hamas's brutal October 7 attacks, which killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians.
With the health ministry claiming the death toll from the Israeli offensive has now topped 11,500, including thousands of children, calls for a truce are mounting.
