The errors generated by the parser for variables declared in a block statement
are incorrect. Consider the following code:

cat Foo.java
public class Foo {
  void m1() {
    if (true)
      int x = 0;
  }
}

javac Foo.java
Foo.java:4: error: '.class' expected
      int x = 0;
          ^
Foo.java:4: error: not a statement
      int x = 0;
      ^
Foo.java:4: error: illegal start of expression
      int x = 0;
            ^
Foo.java:4: error: ';' expected
      int x = 0;
             ^
4 errors

javac generates 4 errors and none of them are accurate.