Terror suspect arrested in Brazil admits he met Hezbollah leader in Lebanon and was given $600 after turning down offer to ‘kidnap and kill’ Jewish targets at home

One of two Brazilian terror suspects arrested this week has confessed to traveling to Lebanon, where he met a Hezbollah leader and turned down an offer to launch attacks on Jewish targets at home.

The man, whose name is being withheld by federal police, said he had rejected an operation in which he would have “killed and kidnapped” people, according to a police report obtained by online news channel G1.

Law enforcement sources told local media that the attacks reportedly targeted the Israeli embassy in Brasilia and buildings and synagogues in the Jewish community.

The suspect, who was apprehended at Guarulhos International Airport after arriving from Lebanon on Tuesday, told investigators he received $400 from a man in São Paulo the day he boarded a flight there.

He stood outside a hotel in Beirut and received instructions for the meeting, which were sent via a WhatsApp number from Paraguay.

The suspect was driven to a location the next day and met with one of the militia bosses, who was accompanied by a security guard and a person interpreting from behind a curtain.

A Palestinian woman injured in an Israeli attack and staying in Al Shifa hospital headed south after fleeing northern Gaza on Friday as the Israeli army moved deeper into the enclave controlled by Hamas.

The Hezbollah commander assured him that the work was “not a clean activity.”

The Brazilian man explained that he did not have the resources to carry out terrorist attacks, adding that he did not want to waste their time.

He added that the Hezbollah leader welcomed the fact that he was honest and lectured him for five hours “about life.”

The suspect received $200 at the end of the meeting and was contacted the next day by the organization’s leader, who tried to recruit him again. He declined the proposal and was paid another $400.

To avoid any suspicion during the short trip, arrangements were made for him to be accompanied by Beirut to ‘tour around and take lots of pictures’ around Beirut.

Before leaving for the airport for his return flight to Brazil, the suspect was informed of the problems he would face “if he betrayed them.”

It is not known whether the suspect met with Hassan Nasrallah, the Lebanese cleric and secretary general of Hezbollah.

The second suspect, who has not been named, was arrested at the airport on Wednesday after arriving on a flight from Santa Catarina state and did not speak to police.

Both men are among five individuals approached by Hezbollah to allegedly launch attacks on the Israeli embassy in Brasilia, as well as on synagogues and other buildings linked to Brazil’s Jewish community.

Brazilian media reported that several Brazilian nationals have traveled to Lebanon to meet with the leadership of the Hezbollah militia group. It is unknown if anyone met the militia’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah (photo)

Alestians comfort a weeping man who lost relatives under the rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on November 4

Israeli soldiers walk through the rubble amid the ongoing ground invasion against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday

A Palestinian woman holds up a stick with a shirt tied to it as a white flag to avoid being shot as they fled Gaza City for the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday

The two suspects who were arrested were placed in pre-trial detention for 30 days.

“Recruiters and recruits must respond to the crimes of forming or joining a terrorist organization and carrying out preparatory terrorist acts, the maximum penalties of which, added together, amount to fifteen years and six months in prison,” the federal police said in a statement.

Brazil is still searching for a second suspect, a Brazilian citizen, in São Paulo.

Authorities have also contacted Interpol about the arrest of a Lebanese suspect with Brazilian citizenship and another person who is also Brazilian and has Syrian citizenship.

The Federal Police’s anti-terrorism unit found that Brazilians, including some with criminal backgrounds, were being courted and hired by Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon to carry out attacks on Brazilian territory.

One hundred and twenty shrouds were placed on the beach on November 3 by members of the non-governmental organization Rio da Paz in honor of Palestinian children killed in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

People hold a demonstration in support of the Palestinian people, organized by the Committee of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, in front of the U.S. Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 31.

Some Brazilians had traveled to Beirut for meetings with the group to discuss its objectives and the possible recruitment of more people.

Jewish leaders in the South American country told Reuters they had noticed an increase in anti-Semitic discourse online since the conflict began on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,400 people and kidnapping 240.

Since then, Israel has responded with military aerial bombardments, killing at least 11,000 people in the Gaza Strip.

There have been no reports of incidents targeting the Israeli embassy or buildings in the Jewish community.