Man who attacked Michigan synagogue was brother of Hezbollah officer

IDF says the man behind terror attack on a synagogue in Michigan is the brother of two Hezbollah terrorists who were eliminated in a recent airstrike.

By World Israel News Staff

The man behind a terrorist attack on a Michigan synagogue was the brother of two Hezbollah terrorists, including one who was responsible for launching hundreds of rockets toward Israel, the IDF said over the weekend.

On March 12, Ayman Mohamed Ghazali, 41, rammed his Ford pickup truck into the Temple Israel of West Bloomfield Township, Michigan.

Armed with a rifle, Ghazali had planned to break into the synagogue and carrying out a mass shooting attack.

After driving into the building’s entrance, Ghazali opened fire and wounded a security officer before committing suicide.

Following the attack, multiple media outlets noted that Ghazali had attended a memorial ceremony just days earlier for four of his relatives who were killed in an IDF airstrike in Lebanon.

Several media outlets reported that one of the relatives, Ghazali’s brother Ibrahim Ghazali was a Hezbollah terrorist.

NBC News cited an unnamed Lebanese official who said Ibrahim was known to have ties to Hezbollah, while CNN reported that Ayman Ghazali had in the past been flagged in government databases over his ties to Hezbollah, including the fact that two of his brothers were affiliated with the group.

In addition to Ibrahim, Ghazali’s other brother, Kassim, is also said to have been a member of Hezbollah.

Kassim was one of the other three people killed in the strike that eliminated Ibrahim.

On Sunday, the IDF confirmed that Ibrahim was a member of Hezbollah, adding that he had overseen the launching of hundreds of rockets toward Israel.

“Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali was responsible for managing weapons operations within a specialized branch of the Badr Unit. The unit is responsible for launching hundreds of rockets toward Israeli civilians throughout the war,” the IDF wrote on X.

“His brother, Ayman Muhammad Ghazali, carried out the terror attack in Michigan this past Thursday. Ibrahim was eliminated in an IAF strike on a Hezbollah military structure last week.”