Brazilian police have announced the arrest of two individuals involved in plotting terrorist attacks in the country. The arrests were made in Sao Paulo as part of an operation to disrupt the preparation of terrorist attacks and gather evidence of extremist recruitment within Brazil. Police have also conducted search and seizure raids in Sao Paulo, Brasilia, and Minas Gerais. The Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, collaborated with Brazilian security services and international agencies to foil the terrorist attack planned by the Hezbollah organization and financed by the Iranian regime. The planned attacks targeted Israeli and Jewish institutions in Brazil. The Mossad statement also mentioned the existence of an extensive network that operated in multiple countries, although no specific countries were mentioned. The tri-border area between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay has been known to be a focus of alleged Hezbollah activities.

Brazil is home to the second-largest Jewish community in Latin America, with approximately 107,000 Jews. According to TV Globo, Brazil’s largest broadcaster, the arrested suspects had recently traveled to Lebanon. Brazilian police have sought Interpol’s assistance in arresting two other suspects with Brazilian-Lebanese nationality who are currently in Lebanon. It is worth noting that anti-terror raids are rare in Brazil, as the country has been largely spared from major attacks in the past. In contrast, Argentina, which has a Jewish community of around 250,000 people, experienced attacks on the Israeli embassy in 1992 and a Jewish center in Buenos Aires in 1994, resulting in the deaths of 114 people.

The arrests in Brazil come in the aftermath of the Israel-Hamas conflict, which began with Palestinian fighters crossing the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip, leading to indiscriminate killings of civilians and hostage-taking. Israel has responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion of Gaza, aiming to subdue the Islamist group, which is allied with Iran-backed Hezbollah.