BarcelonaThey're a "normal, everyday" family. According to neighbors, they bought this apartment in the Eixample district, on Calle València, several years ago. They're a couple of Arab origin, and their daughter started attending school this year. A Palestinian flag once flew in the courtyard of their apartment. All the neighbors were stunned when the Civil Guard raided the building this July and arrested the father. The reason? He was obtaining parts to make drones and sending them to Lebanon, specifically to the terrorist group Hezbollah. After serving time in prison, the man returned to the apartment a few months later. Early Tuesday morning, the same scene was repeated: hooded and armed Civil Guard officers smashed the door of the third floor to the ground and arrested the man again.
The Civil Guard has broken down the door to gain access to the building.C.M.
The motive is the same and is part of a second phase of the police investigation. According to ARA, the man is again accused of being part of Hezbollah's logistical structure in Europe. We're talking about Europe and not Catalonia because, as Efe reports, two other arrests were made in the operation, in the United Kingdom and France.
Construction of more than a thousand drones
Last July, the investigation focused in Barcelona and Badalona. He locked himself in with three other detainees—one of them the same man who was arrested again this Tuesday—in the same apartment in the Catalan capital. The armed group, then in collaboration with the German police, was seeking to dismantle one of Hezbollah's drone logistics structures.
The detainees were accused of building more than a thousand drones for the pro-Iranian militia after purchasing components from several Spanish and other European companies. These unmanned aircraft are capable of carrying explosive payloads weighing several kilos and, due to their small size and low flight, are more difficult to detect.
The investigation continued after that initial police operation and has led the Civil Guard to this Tuesday's operation, carried out by The National and directed by the head of the central investigating court number 1 of the National Court, Francisco de Jorge.
They propose charging the McDonald's attacker in Badalona with terrorism.
The National Court has proposed trying the man who attacked a McDonald's restaurant in Badalona's Magic Center with an axe a year ago for terrorist damage and self-indoctrination. In an order, the judge describes how the suspect, after seeing images of the Gaza war, felt increasingly involved in the Palestinian cause and searched the internet for terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State (ISIS) and other individuals who have fought for jihad. Ultimately, he decided to attack the establishment, searched for information in the days beforehand to prepare, and bought an axe, according to the judge.
After his arrest, the suspect told a police officer: "This morning I saw on Facebook that Palestinian children have died at the hands of Israelis and how the Americans support them, so I went to destroy the McDonald's because it's American."
![The Civil Guard has broken down the door to gain access to the building.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 4032 3024"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Guardias civiles conducen a uno de los detenidos de la red de distribución de Hezbollah, en Madrid.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 16 9"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
