Michigan synagogue attacker had brother who was Hezbollah commander: IDF

The gunman who drove a truck into a Michigan synagogue last week had a brother who served as a commander in Hezbollah. 

41-year-old Ayman Muhamad Ghazali shot and killed himself Thursday after crashing his vehicle into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township. The synagogue is one of the largest Reform congregations in the US and houses a school and an early childcare center. 

In a statement on Sunday morning, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) revealed that Ghazali’s brother, Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali, was responsible for managing weapons operations within a specialized branch of Hezbollah’s Badr Unit.

“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 said. “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.”

Reports surfaced after the attack that several of Ghazali’s family members were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon days before the incident. The family was reportedly sitting down for a Ramadan fast-breaking meal when the strike occurred, killing his two brothers, along with a niece and a nephew.

Ghazali was an American citizen who immigrated to the US after entering in 2011 as the spouse of a US citizen. He was granted citizenship in 2016. Officials say he drove roughly 38 miles from his home in Dearborn Heights, an area with a large Muslim population, to Temple Israel before carrying out the attack.

The FBI revealed that Ghazali crashed his vehicle into the building, which contained fireworks and gasoline, then exchanged gunfire with a security guard before shooting himself. No one was injured in the attack.