The Michigan synagogue attack suspect had close family ties to a Hezbollah commander responsible for launching rockets at Israeli civilians, it has emerged.
Lebanon-born Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, is accused of smashing a vehicle packed with explosives into Temple Israel, in West Bloomfield, Detroit, on Thursday.
It came after he lost multiple relatives in Israeli strikes on Mashgharah, Lebanon on March 5: his brothers Ibrahim and Kassim Ghazali, and two of Ibrahim’s children.
Now, it has emerged that Ibrahim was a major terror group operative, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
‘Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali was responsible for managing weapons operations within a specialized branch of the Badr Unit,’ the IDF said in a statement posted to X.
‘The unit is responsible for launching hundreds of rockets toward Israeli civilians throughout the war.’
The IDF added that Ibrahim Ghazali was ‘eliminated in an IAF strike on a Hezbollah military structure.’
Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali, the brother of Michigan synagogue attacker Ayman Ghazali, was a Hezbollah commander and killed in an Israeli Air Force strike on a Hezbollah military structure
Authorities identified the Michigan attacker as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old naturalized US citizen born in Lebanon
Law enforcement vehicles are seen in the parking lot of Temple Israel as an Israeli flag blows in the wind on top of the building following an active shooter on Thursday in West Bloomfield, MI
Ibrahim Ghazali’s children who died in the Israeli strike were named by the Associated Press as Ali and Fatima. His wife was also seriously wounded.
The deaths are said to have occurred during a Ramadan fast-breaking meal when the strike hit the family home.
The revelation has intensified scrutiny of the Michigan attacker’s background as federal investigators continue to examine the terrifying assault that targeted one of the largest Reform Jewish congregations in the United States.
Authorities said Ayman Ghazali drove almost 40 miles from his home in Dearborn Heights to Temple Israel in West Bloomfield shortly after noon on Thursday.
The synagogue complex includes a preschool and childcare center.
More than 140 children, teachers and staff members were inside at the time.
Ghazali rammed a truck through the building’s entrance before security guards opened fire.
Both brothers including Temple Israel Synagogue attacker Ayman Ghazali, left, and his brother, Ibrahim Ghazali, right, who worked for Hezbollah are pictured here
The Israel Defense Forces said the Michigan synagogue attacker’s brother, Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali, was a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon
Parents are escorted by police down after being reunited with their children after a suspect crashed his truck into the hallway of Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan
The synagogue complex houses a preschool and early childcare center and is one of the largest Reform congregations in the United States
People embrace as law enforcement escort families away from the synagogue on Thursday
Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, told reporters that the attacker eventually shot himself after becoming trapped in the vehicle as it caught on fire.
The truck was loaded with commercial-grade fireworks and several jugs of gasoline, according to officials.
Despite the chaos, no children or staff were injured.
A security guard who was struck by the vehicle was taken to hospital and is expected to recover, while dozens of law-enforcement personnel suffered smoke inhalation while responding to the blaze.
‘If they had not all done their jobs almost perfectly, we would be talking about an immense tragedy here with children gone,’ US Senator Elissa Slotkin said during a news conference.
Law-enforcement sources have told media outlets that American authorities had previously taken note of Ayman Ghazali’s connections to individuals linked to Hezbollah.
Sources cited by CNN said Ghazali had been flagged in US government databases because of his contacts with members of the militant group, though officials did not believe he himself was a member.
According to law-enforcement sources cited by the New York Post, investigators discovered contacts with known Hezbollah members in Ghazali’s phone in 2019 when he was questioned after returning from an overseas trip.
A neighbor described Ayman Mohamad Ghazali as ‘kind, polite and respectful’ and someone who had a ‘warm personality’ and ‘constant smile’. He worked at Hamido, a popular Middle Eastern restaurant in Dearborn Heights, Michigan
Families embrace one another after following Thursday’s active shooter incident
Police respond to the scene of a shooting and vehicle attack near Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan on Thursday
reportedly told authorities the trip was for a hair transplant.
Ghazali lived in a $315,000 home in Dearborn Heights which has the largest Arab-American population in the United States.
He worked at Hamido, a popular Middle Eastern restaurant in the area.
Customers said he was well known for his friendly demeanor.
‘He was a very hospitable man and a loving father,’ restaurant patron Timothy Jacob wrote in a community group.
Another local, Mike Smith, said hearing about the attack was ‘shocking,’ adding that Ghazali had always been ‘one of the kindest people you can ever meet.’
Neighbor Kandie Zaidieh told the Detroit Free Press she was stunned by the allegations.
‘He was the best. The best neighbor,’ she said. ‘Always quiet, a hard worker. He was always pleasant. Everybody liked him.’
The exterior the home of Ayman Mohamad Ghazali is shown in Friday, March 13, 2026, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan
Parents carry their preschool-aged children to safety as police escort them away from Temple Israel synagogue after Ghazali’s attack on Thursday
Yet colleagues said Ghazali had been absent from work in the weeks leading up to the attack.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Ghazali entered the United States in May 2011 on an immigrant visa granted to spouses of American citizens.
He later applied for naturalization and became a US citizen on February 5, 2016.
Court records show his ex-wife filed for divorce in Wayne County Circuit Court in August 2024. The divorce was finalized in March 2025 and included a child-support order.
Authorities say Ghazali called his former wife shortly before the attack and asked her to take care of their children.
Community leaders have condemned the attack in the strongest terms.
Imam Hassan Qazwini, whose mosque in Dearborn Heights held a service for members of the Ghazali family killed in Lebanon, said the violence at the synagogue violated Islamic principles.
‘Islam forbids holding innocent people accountable for acts done by others,’ Qazwini told the AP.
‘The unjustified Israeli attack on civilians in Iran and Lebanon gives no blank check to anyone attacking synagogues, civilians and peaceful communities,’ he added.
