The attacker who rammed a vehicle containing explosives into a Michigan synagogue last week was the brother of a Hezbollah commander, the IDF has said.
Ayman Mohamad Ghazali carried out the attack at Temple Israel, a Reform congregation of 3,100 households, in Detroit last Thursday.
A Lebanese immigrant, Ghazali – who was 41 – continued travelling “with purpose” down a corridor after driving his truck into the building. When his vehicle became stuck, he exchanged gunfire with security guards. On Friday, the FBI said Ghazali died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound during a gunfight with police.
The Department of Homeland Security subsequently confirmed that Ghazali had entered the US on an immigration visa in 2011 before being granted US citizenship in 2016.
Now, Israel has announced that his brother, Ibrahim Ghazali, was a Hezbollah commander who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon earlier this month.
Ibrahim Ghazali had managed weapons operations for Hezbollah’s Badr unit, according to the IDF, which did not not say how it had verified this information.
The Badr unit specialises in advanced warfare and is known for its intense training and preparation for conflict.
In a post on X, the IDF said that Ibrahim Ghazali had launched “hundreds of rockets toward Israeli civilians throughout the war", and that he had been “eliminated”.
However, a Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity told the New York Times that neither Ibrahim Ghazali nor his family were affiliated with the group.
US broadcaster CBS has reported that a freelance journalist working for it in Lebanon was told by sources that Ibrahim Ghazali and another of Ghazali’s brothers, Kassim, were members of a Hezbollah rocket unit in southern Lebanon.
In a statement released in the wake of the synagogue attack, Mo Baydoun, the mayor of Dearborn Heights, where the attacker worked, said that Ghazali had recently experienced "devastating and personal losses overseas". He added that this was "not an excuse" for the violence perpetrated.
One security guard was hit by the vehicle and taken to the hospital after the attack, but is expected to recover. No other injuries were reported.
The synagogue serves about 12,000 members, making it one of the largest Reform synagogues in the US. It comprises an early childhood centre and a school that runs from pre-school to 12th grade (Year 12).
Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke with Jewish community leaders in Michigan in the wake of the attack to express the country’s “solidarity”.
“I am relieved to hear that there were no casualties as a result of the attack,” he said.
“This is a grave and serious incident that follows a series of attacks on Jewish institutions around the world… we send a message of strength and support from Israel to the Jewish community in Michigan."
To get more news, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.