October 24, 2026
A new strategy for Hezbollah: recruiting those with a history in Latin America to carry out operations against Israeli targets
A report prepared by journalist Danielle Grayman-Kenard in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, based on an assessment by Brazilian Federal Prosecutor Lucas Gualtieri and based on data from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, revealed a new method attributed to Hezbollah in recruiting elements to carry out operations outside Lebanon. This method relies on attracting people with criminal records in Latin America who suffer from financial hardship and who hold a grudge against the judicial authorities, and transporting them to Lebanon to receive special training, in preparation for returning them to their countries to scout out possible Jewish and Israeli targets.
The assessment issued by Gualtieri, a specialist in organized crime, explained that the party has become increasingly dependent on people with no previous ideological or organizational ties to it, which allows it to evade responsibility for any potential attacks and portray them as individual hate crimes. These data are based on the “Trapechi” anti-terrorism operation, which was launched by the Brazilian Federal Police in November 2023 with the support of the Israeli Mossad.
Investigations showed the existence of a network similar to a “production line” of elements; Recruitment networks search for criminal convicts who have accounts they want to settle with the courts. The evidence included audio recordings of discussions between recruits, in addition to precedents dating back to 2021, represented by the deportation of two criminals hired by the party to target an Israeli in the Colombian capital, Bogota. In the details of the Brazilian investigation, the name of Lucas Passos Lima emerged, whose conviction was reaffirmed last month by the Supreme Court of Justice in Brazil after he returned from Lebanon in possession of more than $5,000 in cash, and after it was proven that he was involved in monitoring and photographing three Jewish synagogues, a cemetery, an Israeli embassy, and a rabbi in Brasilia, in addition to undergoing weapons training and using encrypted communications. Gualtieri warned of the danger of considering financial motivation to negate terrorism, considering that the Supreme Court’s decision established an important judicial precedent in this regard.
In terms of financing and logistics, the report indicated an increasing reliance on the proceeds of criminal networks. Tobacco stores in Brazil contributed to financing the recruits’ travel tickets to Lebanon. The threads of this network began when tax inspectors spotted a tobacco store in Belo Horizonte selling prohibited cigarettes. The file was transferred in October 2023 to the anti-terrorism police after warnings from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It turned out that the stores were registered in the name of Hussein Abdel Majeed, while they were actually managed by his brother, Muhammad Khair Abdel Majeed (a Syrian-born person with Brazilian citizenship). The name Haitham Hussein Diab (a Lebanese person with Brazilian citizenship) was also mentioned in the FBI memorandum after his passport was found in Abdul Majeed’s cloud storage space.
Investigations revealed that Muhammad Khair Abdel Majeed communicated with at least 5 Brazilians via social media, and sponsored their trips to Beirut and accommodation in luxury hotels. They received training in undercover work and unconventional communications (such as body signals and shared email drafts), in addition to photographing tourist sites to camouflage the reasons for their visit.
In a parallel track to financial operations, the report addressed the use of cryptocurrencies, as Dante Filippini, a digital currency broker in São Paulo, was arrested as part of the “Colossus” money laundering operation, after he created 3 digital wallets for the benefit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah. A Filipino faced charges of money laundering and belonging to a terrorist organization, after he traveled to Baalbek in January 2023 and fired rifles accompanied by party members, considering the trip a “baptism” for him.
The report concluded by emphasizing that the danger of these networks is not limited to carrying out attacks only, but also in the recruitment, financing and training mechanisms that allow the use of elements from outside the traditional organizational environment, which complicates the task of proving the responsible party. Gualtieri called on the authorities to bring terrorist charges whenever evidence is available, audit financial oversight of suspicious transfers and fictitious companies, and expand mechanisms for classifying terrorist organizations, stressing that local law enforcement tools remain essential to dismantling these networks, in addition to international cooperation.
