Hezbollah network in South America
Mossad reports dismantling of terrorist cell in Brazil
November 8, 2023, 11:52 p.m
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Hezbollah has been active in South America for decades. Now the Israeli secret service reports that a cell of the terrorist organization has been set up in Brazil. The group is said to have planned attacks on Jewish institutions.
Police in Brazil have arrested a Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist cell, according to Israel’s secret service. The Israeli foreign secret service Mossad, which said it was involved in the operation, said it was operated by the Shiite militia to carry out attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets. Accordingly, it is said to have been an “extensive network” of Hezbollah that also operated in other countries.
According to the Brazilian Federal Police, the nationwide operation aimed to “interrupt terrorist acts and obtain evidence of possible recruitment of Brazilians to carry out extremist activities in the country.” According to the information, two preliminary arrest warrants and eleven search and seizure warrants were issued in the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo and the Federal District of Brasília. The people would have to answer for founding or joining a terrorist organization and for preparing terrorist acts, it said. According to police, the maximum penalty for this is 15 years and 6 months in prison.
Brazilian media also reported that attacks on the Jewish community were said to have been planned. The central organization of Jewish communities in Brazil, Conib, expressed “great concern” on Platform X. “Terrorism in all its manifestations must be fought and rejected by the entire Brazilian society.”
Millions of citizens with Syrian and Lebanese roots live in South America. Hezbollah has been very active for over 30 years, especially in the border triangle of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, according to intelligence information. Like Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah is allied with Iran, which sees Israel as its archenemy. Since the beginning of the Gaza war, there have been repeated violent confrontations with Hezbollah on Israel’s border with Lebanon.