MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil to airlift nationals out of Lebanon as Israeli forces march on

The date of the mission is yet to be decided after a throrough assessment of the safety conditions

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ordered a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) aircraft sent to rescue nationals of the South American country from war-torn Lebanon as Israeli forces launched Monday a land invasion following days of shelling and air strikes killing high-ranking leaders of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, Agencia Brasil reported citing an announcement from the Itamaraty Palace.

The operation, coordinated by the Foreign and Defense Ministries, will have its date announced in the next few days, following an assessment of the safety conditions for the flight. The FAB's initial plan is to take off from Beirut airport, which is open. The region is suffering from ongoing Israeli air strikes against civilian areas in Beirut, southern Lebanon, and the Beqaa Valley.

“The Embassy in Lebanon is taking the necessary steps to make the operation feasible, in permanent contact with the Brazilian community and in close coordination with the local authorities,” Brazil's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Last week, Israeli bombings in Lebanon caused the death of two Brazilian teenagers. The largest community of Brazilians in the Middle East is currently in Lebanon. In all, 21,000 Brazilians live in the country.

 Argentina

Two men and two women were arrested in Argentina during the weekend in connection with an alleged scheme to finance the terrorist group Hezbollah with cryptocurrencies. The detentions took place in the provinces of Córdoba and Santa Fe.

The suspects were in possession of three shotguns, a pistol, an air rifle, cartridges and ammunition, money in virtual wallets, notebooks, a computer, a laptop, and seven cell phones, the Federal Police (PFA) said.

Since August, the PFA's Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) has been tracking cryptocurrency transactions between a Colombian-born Argentine national and a Syrian national allegedly linked to the Lebanese group. The virtual wallet, which would have received 34 transfers of 'USTD' (dollar-backed cryptocurrency) between March and June this year, was flagged as suspected terrorist financing activity by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control.

”About these transactions, it is estimated that the volume of funds operated in the course of two years would amount to the sum of 1.8 billion pesos (1.8 million dollars), both in credits and debits,” the PFA said in a statement.

The authorities carried out seven raids in the town of La Porteña in Córdoba and one in Vila, in Santa Fe, after which the arrests were made.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah chose Hashem Safi al-Din this weekend to succeed slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was gunned down by Israel last week. Nasrallah had taken over as Hezbollah leader in 1992 and was believed to have masterminded the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires that year and the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) in 1994, among other attacks.

Safi al-Din's brother Abdullah serves as Hezbollah's representative and spokesman in Iran. In addition, his son Reza married in June 2020 Zeinab Soleimaní, the daughter of powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimaní, who was killed in January of the same year by the U.S. in a targeted bombing in Baghdad. Like most of Hezbollah's senior officials, Safi al-Din was designated a terrorist by Washington.