The sibling of an individual who carried out an assault on a synagogue in Michigan recently, and who was killed in an Israeli airstrike earlier this month, was identified by Israel’s military as a Hezbollah commander on Sunday.
Ibrahim Ghazali lost his life in Lebanon alongside three other family members on March 5 — a week before Ayman Mohamad Ghazali allegedly rammed his vehicle into a prominent synagogue near Detroit and then took his own life after being fired upon by security personnel.
The FBI’s Detroit division, which is handling the investigation into the incident at the synagogue, opted not to provide a response to Israel’s military assertions regarding Ibrahim Ghazali.
Jordan Hall, a spokesperson for the FBI, stated in an email on Sunday, “In consideration of the ongoing investigation, we will continue to abstain from commenting on its specifics.”
Israel’s military contends that Ibrahim Ghazali served as a Hezbollah commander overseeing the management of weaponry for a unit responsible for launching rockets at Israel.
A Lebanese official, who wished to remain anonymous due to limitations on discussing the airstrike publicly, verified Ibrahim Ghazali’s demise. The official informed The Associated Press that Ghazali’s children, Ali and Fatima, as well as his brother, Kassim, were also casualties in the strike that hit their residence just after sunset.
In a communication to The Associated Press in Beirut, Hezbollah mentioned that the Ghazali brothers, Ibrahim and Kassim, were active in a local soccer league and were targeted at their residence along with their children. However, the statement did not explicitly deny Ibrahim’s affiliation with the group.
Authorities revealed that Ayman Ghazali, aged 41, carried out the synagogue attack after learning about the deaths of four family members in the Israeli airstrike.
As tensions escalate in the region, Israel has intensified its operations against the Iranian-supported Hezbollah group in Lebanon.
Ayman Ghazali was observed waiting in his car outside Temple Israel, close to Detroit, armed with a rifle, commercial fireworks, and containers believed to contain gasoline, before driving into the building where numerous children were present, as per officials.
Following an exchange of gunfire with an armed security guard, Ghazali fatally shot himself after becoming trapped in his vehicle, which caught fire. Fortunately, no staff or children inside the synagogue sustained injuries, likely due to enhanced security measures in recent months.
The FBI, spearheading the probe, described the attack on one of the nation’s largest Reform synagogues as a violent act targeting the Jewish community. However, the agency clarified that there was insufficient evidence to classify it as an act of terrorism.
Ghazali immigrated to the U.S. in 2011 on a family-based visa and obtained U.S. citizenship in 2016. He resided in a single-story brick dwelling in Dearborn Heights, a suburb of Detroit located about 60 kilometers south of the synagogue.
The assault on the Michigan synagogue coincided with a former Army National Guard member, who had served time in prison for attempting to support the Islamic State, opening fire in a classroom at Old Dominion University in Virginia on the same day, resulting in one fatality and two injuries.