Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after a car crashed into a barrier near the Israeli embassy in Tokyo, and a police officer was injured in the incident, several local media reported.
Television images show a small, dark car crashing into a barrier at an intersection about 100 meters from the Israeli embassy.
The person arrested at the scene is a man in his 50s who is believed to be a member of a right-wing extremist group, some Japanese media reported.
Japanese far-right groups are generally not critical of Israel and are not considered anti-Semitic.
A fire department spokesman told AFP that an “emergency call” for an ambulance was received at 11:57 a.m. (02:57 GMT).
Police declined to comment and the Israeli embassy could not immediately be reached.
“I heard a very loud noise and went out to check,” an employee at a nearby restaurant said in an interview with public television channel NHK.
“Then I saw an injured and suffering police officer near a traffic barrier. He appeared to be bleeding,” he added.
Countries around the world have increased security around Israel’s diplomatic missions since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Israel launched a large-scale ground offensive in the Gaza Strip on October 27 to “destroy” Hamas, which carried out an attack of unprecedented proportions on its territory on October 7, causing 1,200 casualties, mostly civilians, according to authorities. Israelis.
The Hamas government claims that the subsequent air strikes and the Israeli ground offensive caused the deaths of about 11,500 people, mostly civilians, including 4,710 children.
The UN Security Council broke its silence on Wednesday for the first time since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, calling for “humanitarian breaks and corridors” in the Gaza Strip.
Last week, the diplomatic chiefs of the G7 countries meeting in Tokyo also called for “humanitarian breaks”.
In response to the Israeli army’s operation at Al-Chifa Hospital in Gaza, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it was “deeply outraged by the significant harm inflicted on innocent civilians.”
“Nothing can justify attacks on hospitals or civilians,” he added.
Japan condemned the October 7 attacks, expressed condolences to the bereaved families and expressed deep sympathy to those injured.