Michigan Synagogue Attacker’s Brother was Hezbollah Commander

Ibrahim Ghazali served as a commander responsible for weapons operations within a specialized branch of Hezbollah’s Badr Unit.

By United with Israel Staff

The Israeli military says the brother of the gunman who carried out last week’s attack outside a synagogue in Michigan was a Hezbollah commander responsible for launching rockets at Israeli civilians.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, intelligence revealed that Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali, a Hezbollah terrorist killed in an Israeli Air Force strike in Lebanon last week, was the brother of Ayman Muhammad Ghazali, the man who carried out Thursday’s armed attack at Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan.

The IDF said Ibrahim Ghazali served as a commander responsible for weapons operations within a specialized branch of Hezbollah’s Badr Unit, a formation tasked with launching hundreds of rockets toward Israeli civilian communities throughout the war. He was eliminated in an Israeli strike on a Hezbollah military structure in Lebanon.

The revelation comes days after Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, a Lebanese-born American citizen, carried out the attack outside the synagogue before being killed in a shootout with security personnel.

Authorities previously said the suspect approached the synagogue armed with a rifle and attempted a vehicle ramming before exchanging gunfire with security guards outside the building. No additional casualties were reported.

On Friday, officials in Michigan said the attacker had reportedly lost several family members in Lebanon during fighting with Israel earlier this month. Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun said relatives of the suspect, including a niece and nephew, had been killed when their home was struck during the conflict.

The new intelligence disclosed by the IDF adds further context to the attacker’s background, linking him directly to a senior Hezbollah terrorist who played a role in directing rocket attacks on Israeli civilians.

The attack triggered a large law enforcement response and heightened security at Jewish institutions across the Detroit area. Nearby residents were briefly ordered to shelter in place as police secured the scene and evacuated students and staff from a neighboring school and daycare affiliated with the synagogue.

The suspect was killed in the exchange of gunfire with synagogue security, and the Department of Homeland Security later confirmed his identity.

Temple Israel, founded in 1941, is one of the largest Jewish congregations in the United States, with more than 3,000 members.

The new intelligence linking the attacker’s brother to a Hezbollah commander has added a broader international dimension to the incident, highlighting how tensions tied to the Middle East conflict can reverberate far beyond the region and raise concerns for Jewish communities abroad.