The Israeli military reported on Sunday that Ibrahim Ghazali, the brother of the man responsible for the recent Michigan synagogue attack, was a Hezbollah commander and was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon earlier this month. Ibrahim Ghazali, along with three other family members, was killed on March 5, just a week before Ayman Mohamad Ghazali drove his vehicle into a synagogue near Detroit and took his own life after being fired upon by security.
Israel’s military alleges that Ibrahim Ghazali was a Hezbollah commander in charge of weapons for a unit that launched rockets at Israel. The Lebanese government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Ibrahim Ghazali’s death and mentioned that his children, Ali and Fatima, and his brother, Kassim, also perished in the airstrike that targeted their home at dusk.
Hezbollah acknowledged that Ibrahim and Kassim were involved in a local soccer league and were at home with their children when they were attacked, without directly addressing Ibrahim’s alleged affiliation with the group. Authorities have stated that Ayman Ghazali carried out the synagogue attack in response to the deaths of his family members in the Israeli strike.
The incident at Temple Israel near Detroit saw Ayman Ghazali waiting in his car for about two hours before crashing into the building. He engaged in a shootout with an armed security guard and ultimately took his own life after his vehicle caught fire. Fortunately, no synagogue staff or children were injured due to increased security measures in place.
The FBI, leading the investigation, characterized the synagogue attack as a violent act targeting the Jewish community but refrained from labeling it as terrorism until further evidence is gathered. Ayman Ghazali immigrated to the U.S. in 2011, obtained citizenship in 2016, and resided in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. The synagogue attack coincided with another violent incident at Old Dominion University in Virginia, where a former Army National Guard member, previously imprisoned for assisting the Islamic State, opened fire in a classroom, resulting in casualties.
Israel’s intensified strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon are amid escalating tensions in the region due to the broader conflict involving Iran.