Brazilian police on Wednesday arrested two individuals affiliated with the Iran-aligned terror group Hezbollah over an alleged terrorist plot, officials say.
An anonymous Brazilian official with knowledge of the police operation told AP that Hezbollah had recruited and financed the two suspects. A statement from the Brazilian Federal Police said law enforcement had executed 11 search warrants across the country to find evidence of a potential extremist recruitment effort getting natives to carry out terrorist attacks, ABC News reported. (RELATED: Squad Member Fundraises On Being Censured For Defending Hamas)
Brazil arrests Hezbollah-linked terrorists for planning attack on Jews – report #Brazil | #Terrorism | #Antisemitism https://t.co/mddNWH4COd
— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) November 8, 2023
The Office of the Israeli Prime Minister also broadcast the alleged plot and its intelligence agency’s role in foiling it. “The Brazilian security services, together with the Mossad and its partners in the Israeli security community, alongside additional international security agencies, foiled a terrorist attack in Brazil, planned by the Hezbollah terrorist organization, directed and financed by Iran,” the Prime Minister of Israel wrote in a statement on social media.
The Brazilian security services, together with the Mossad and its partners in the Israeli security community, alongside additional international security agencies, foiled a terrorist attack in Brazil, planned by the Hezbollah terrorist organization, directed and financed by Iran.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 8, 2023
The same account thanked Brazil for its cooperation in the police operation and noted the plot revolved around attacking “Israeli and Jewish targets in Brazil.”
This was an extensive network that operated in additional countries.
The Mossad thanks the Brazilian security services for the arrest of a terrorist cell that was operated by Hezbollah in order to carry out an attack on Israeli and Jewish targets in Brazil.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 8, 2023
Brazil is home to one of the largest Lebanese populations in the world, according to ABC. Hezbollah is an internationally designated terrorist group based in Lebanon, per the U.S. Director of National Intelligence. Brazil is also home to the second-largest Jewish population in Latin America, numbering some 92,000 persons, according to The Jerusalem Post.