Arrests Made in Brazil in Connection with Suspected Hezbollah Conspiracy

Brazilian authorities have foiled an alleged plot to attack Jews in the country after arresting two men suspected of being linked to the Islamist group Hezbollah. The arrests were made during a police operation in São Paulo aimed at disrupting terrorist preparations. Additional raids were conducted across the country. The Israeli Prime Minister's office has announced that its spy agency, Mossad, worked with Brazilian law enforcement in foiling the attack. With Latin America's second largest Jewish community, Brazil is home to over 100,000 Jewish people. Mossad stated that the planned attacks targeted Israeli and Jewish targets in Brazil and involved an extensive network operating in multiple countries. Security experts have long tracked alleged Hezbollah operations in the "tri-border area" between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. Although Brazil may seem distant from the Middle East, the region's conflicts have had an impact on South America. Argentina, with one of the largest Jewish communities globally, holds Hezbollah responsible for the 1994 bombing of the Amia Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires, which claimed 85 lives. Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, and Paraguay have designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, but Brazil has yet to do so.