On Wednesday, Brazil arrested two people on terrorism charges as part of an operation to take down a suspected Hezbollah cell planning attacks on Brazilian soil.
Later that day, Mossad publicly thanked Brazil's police and said, "Given the backdrop of the war in Gaza," Hezbollah was continuing to attack Israeli, Jewish and Western targets.
A spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, which oversees the Mossad, had no immediate comment.
Brazil's Foreign Ministry told Israel this week that the diplomatic relationship would become unsustainable if any harm were to befall the trapped Brazilians, the sources said.
The Iranian government and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group in Lebanon, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Persons:
Brazil's, Flavio Dino, Israel, Dino, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Eli Cohen, Mauro Vieira, Vieira, Daniel Zonshine, Jair Bolsonaro, Lula, Zonshine, Andrei Rodrigues, Rodrigues, Gabriel Stargardter, Maytaal Angel, Jonathan Saul, Andrew Heavens, Brad Haynes, David Gregorio, Leslie Adler
Organizations:
RIO DE, Brazilian Federal Police, Prime, Office, Mossad, Foreign Ministry, Reuters, O Globo, Wednesday's Federal Police, Federal Police, Hezbollah, Thomson
Locations:
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Israel, Gaza, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Iran, Lebanon