Michigan synagogue attacker’s brothers said to be Hezbollah members killed in IDF strike
Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, was US-Lebanese national; source tells NBC he was questioned on potential terror ties upon his return from overseas trips; CBS says brothers were in rocket unit
The armed man who rammed his truck into a Reform synagogue and preschool in Michigan was identified Friday as 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, as reports said his brothers were members of the Hezbollah terror group.
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 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.
A local journalist in Lebanon told CBS News that the two brothers were members of a Hezbollah rocket unit in south Lebanon.
Sources told CNN that Ghazali had been flagged in US government databases for connections to members of Hezbollah, but was not thought to be a member of the terror group.
However, a source familiar with the matter told NBC that US investigators were looking into possible ties between Ghazali and members of Hezbollah, and said that the synagogue attacker had been questioned on the matter on a number of occasions upon his return from overseas trips.
Security guards opened fire on Ghazali after he smashed a truck through the doors of the Temple Israel synagogue and preschool in West Bloomfield, near Detroit on Thursday.
According to the US Department of Homeland Security, Ghazali came to the United States in 2011 on an IR1 immigrant visa, given to spouses of US citizens, and was granted US citizenship himself in 2016.
He worked at a popular restaurant in Dearborn Heights, Hamido, but had been absent in recent weeks, fellow employees told The New York Times. He was divorced and had at least one child, according to The Detroit News, which cited court records.
The newspaper reported, citing two people familiar with the investigation, that at least four of Ghazali’s relatives “had been killed days earlier in a military strike in Lebanon.”
CBS News cited a source in Michigan’s Lebanese-American community who said that in the wake of the strike, Ghazali stopped working and spent his time alone at home.
The same source said that prior to the synagogue attack, Ghazali called his ex-wife. The conversation reportedly left her concerned, and she called the police afterward.
Israel has been carrying out extensive airstrikes targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Israel Defense Forces has pushed further into the south of the country on the ground, after the Iran-backed terror group started firing hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel on March 2, in response to US-Israeli attacks on the Iranian regime.
Mayor condemns attack, does not mention antisemitism
In a statement posted to social media late Thursday, Dearborn Heights’s Mayor Mo Baydoun wrote: “Earlier today, we learned that the individual responsible for the incident that took place at Temple Israel Synagogue in West Bloomfield was a resident of Dearborn Heights. He died at the scene.”
“No matter where violence occurs, whether in West Bloomfield or anywhere around in the world, harm against innocent people is something we must all stand firmly against,” he said, adding: “The tensions we see across the world too often find their way into our own neighborhoods, reminding us how deeply connected our shared safety is.”
Baydoun urged residents to “stay aware and vigilant, especially as we gather during these sacred final days of Ramadan,” the Muslim holy month.
It was the second statement issued by the mayor since the attack. Both made reference to houses of worship, including “the impacted congregation,” and noted that the event took place at a synagogue. Neither statement made any explicit reference to antisemitism.
At a news conference Thursday evening, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said no synagogue staff or children were hurt in the attack, but 30 law enforcement officers were “taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation” after the evacuation efforts. Earlier, he said one security guard was injured by the assailant’s truck.
The FBI will investigate the incident “as a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community,” Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the federal agency’s Detroit field office, told reporters. Law enforcement has not yet publicly detailed a motive.
The Times of Israel Community.