IDF says slain brother of Michigan synagogue attacker was a Hezbollah commander

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Police tape hangs outside the Temple Israel synagogue March 13, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan. (AP/Paul Sancya)
Police tape hangs outside the Temple Israel synagogue March 13, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan. (AP/Paul Sancya)

The brother of an armed man who rammed his truck into a Reform synagogue and preschool in Michigan last week was a Hezbollah commander, the IDF says, confirming earlier reports on the matter.

“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 says on X.

His brother, 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, carried out the Thursday attack.

The IDF says that Ibrahim was “eliminated in an IAF strike on a Hezbollah military structure.”

Ayman Ghazali, the suspect in a March 12, 2026, attack on a Michigan synagogue, seen in security camera footage allegedly buying fireworks two days before the attack. (CBS News screenshot)

Several of Ghazali’s Lebanese relatives were killed in an Israeli airstrike earlier this month amid the renewed fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group, multiple reports said.

An unnamed official had told NBC News that the strike killed two of Ghazali’s brothers, who were known to be members of the Hezbollah terror group, in addition to his niece and nephew.

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