Temple Israel shooter’s brother was a Hezbollah commander, Israel says

The brother of the man who carried out Thursday’s attack at a West Bloomfield Township synagogue was a Hezbollah commander killed in an Israeli airstrike days earlier, the Israel Defense Forces said Sunday.

The IDF tweeted a post on X that identified the commander as Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali, saying he managed weapons operations in a specialized branch of Hezbollah’s Badr Unit, which it said has “launched hundreds of rockets toward Israeli civilians during the war.” The post said Ibrahim Ghazali was killed last week in an Israeli Air Force strike on a Hezbollah military structure.

“Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali was responsible for managing weapons operations within a specialized branch of the Badr Unit,” IDF said in the post. “The unit is responsible for launching hundreds of rockets toward Israeli civilians throughout the war. His brother, Ayman Muhammad Ghazali, carried out the terror attack in Michigan this past Thursday. Ibrahim was eliminated in an IAF strike on a Hezbollah military structure last week.”

In Michigan, authorities have identified the attacker of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township as Ayman Ghazali, 41, of Dearborn Heights. Ghazali is accused of driving a truck into Temple Israel just after noon Thursday and opening fire before exchanging gunfire with security guards, according to the FBI.

Two sources briefed on the investigation also told The Detroit News that Ayman Ghazali had relatives killed in a recent military strike in the country in Lebanon.

According to the Associated Press, an Israeli airstrike on March 5 killed two of Ghazali’s brothers — Ibrahim and Kassim Ghazali — along with two of Ibrahim’s children, while Ibrahim’s wife was seriously wounded. A local official in the Lebanese village of Mashgharah told the AP the family was gathered for the Ramadan fast-breaking meal when the strike occurred.

Israeli authorities had warned residents in Beirut and surrounding areas to evacuate ahead of airstrikes after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel, according to Reuters.

What U.S. authorities have said about Temple Israel-Hezbollah connection

U.S. officials have not publicly confirmed that any of Ghazali’s relatives were affiliated with Hezbollah or that the Michigan attack was connected to an international terrorist organization. Federal investigators are continuing to examine Ghazali’s background and potential motivations. FBI investigators said they are treating what happened at Temple Israel as a “targeted” act of violence against the Jewish community.

Asked if Ghazali’s family members were members of the terrorist group Hezbollah, FBI Detroit Field Office Special Agent In Charge Jennifer Runyan said Friday that she was “aware of” that possibility.

“That is part of our own investigation at this time,” Runyan said.

Ghazali, a native of Lebanon who worked at a restaurant in Dearborn Heights, entered the United States through Detroit in May 2011 on an immigrant visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen, according to the Department of Homeland Security. He applied for naturalization in October 2015 and became a U.S. citizen in February 2016. He finalized a divorce in March 2025.