MIAMI — Earlier this week, Israel announced that the Mossad and other intelligence agencies had foiled a terrorist attack against Jews in Brazil.
Israel reported a Hezbollah network was recruiting volunteers to execute attacks on a list of targets that included synagogues.
Brazilian authorities announced the arrest of six suspects and the search for two Brazilian-Lebanese suspects as part of a counterterrorism operation known as “Operação Trapiche,” TV Globo reported on Friday night.
Brazilian Justice Minister Flavio Dino released a statement on Thursday saying the investigation had “nothing to do with international conflicts.”
Also this week, in Lebanon, Hezbollah fighters carried the coffin of Qassim Ibrahim Abu-Taam, who died during fighting along Lebanon’s southern border with Israel.
As of Saturday, Israel had been at war with Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah, for the 36th day. Over 240 hostages vanished during the Hamas surprise attack on Oct. 7.
Assad Ahmad Barakat, a Lebanese accused of supporting Hezbollah, was arrested in 2018, in Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, Brazil. In 2011, during a U.S. congressional hearing, former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff warned that Hezbollah made al-Qaeda “look like a minor league team” as it posed the greatest threat to American national security.
From India, on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said far too many Palestinians had been killed during Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 attack.
This was an extensive network that operated in additional countries.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 8, 2023
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.
More reports on Brazil
- Saving Brazil’s golden monkey, one green corridor at a time
- Rio de Janeiro’s security forces launch raids in 3 favelas to target criminals
More reports on Israel
- Gaza’s main hospital goes dark in intense fighting as Israel’s attacks put it at odds with allies
- Blinken says ‘far too many’ Palestinians have died as Israel wages relentless war on Hamas
More reports on Hezbollah
- How Lebanon’s Hezbollah group became a critical player in the Israel-Hamas war
- Israel’s military and Hezbollah exchange fire along the tense Lebanon-Israel border
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