The Israeli military reported on Sunday that the sibling of the individual who carried out an assault on a Michigan synagogue last week had been killed in an Israeli airstrike earlier this month. Ibrahim Ghazali, identified as a Hezbollah commander, along with three other family members, lost their lives in Lebanon on March 5. A week later, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali allegedly rammed his vehicle into a prominent synagogue near Detroit and perished after being fired upon by security personnel.
The FBI’s Detroit division, responsible for investigating the synagogue incident, chose not to provide any statements regarding the Israeli military’s assertions about Ibrahim Ghazali. According to FBI spokesperson Jordan Hall, no further comments would be made on the matter due to the ongoing investigation.
The Israeli military asserted that Ibrahim Ghazali served as a Hezbollah commander overseeing weapons operations for a unit that launched rockets at Israel. A Lebanese official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Ibrahim Ghazali’s demise, stating that the airstrike also claimed the lives of his children, Ali and Fatima, and his brother, Kassim.
Hezbollah, in a statement issued to The Associated Press in Beirut, acknowledged that the brothers, Ibrahim and Kassim, were engaged in a local soccer league and were targeted at their residence alongside their children. However, the statement did not explicitly deny Ibrahim’s affiliation with the group.
Authorities disclosed that Ayman Ghazali, aged 41, carried out the synagogue assault following the loss of four family members in the Israeli airstrike. As tensions rise, Israel has intensified its operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon amid the widening conflict with Iran in the Middle East.
In a separate incident, Ayman Ghazali staged an armed attack on Temple Israel near Detroit, where he waited in his car for approximately two hours before crashing into the building. Engaging in gunfire with a security guard, Ghazali ultimately took his own life as his vehicle caught fire. Despite the intense security measures in place, no synagogue staff or children were harmed during the incident.
The FBI, leading the investigation, classified the assault on the synagogue as a violent act targeting the Jewish community. However, the agency refrained from labeling it as a terrorist act due to insufficient evidence.
Ayman Ghazali immigrated to the U.S. in 2011 on a spousal visa and obtained U.S. citizenship in 2016. Residing in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, approximately 60 kilometers from the synagogue, he carried out the attack on the same day that a former National Guard member, previously incarcerated for aiding the Islamic State, opened fire at Old Dominion University in Virginia, resulting in casualties.