Israel Defense Forces said Sunday the brother of the suspect in last week’s Michigan synagogue attack was a Hezbollah terrorist.
Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali, a commander in Hezbollah’s Badr Unit, “was responsible for managing weapons operations” and the unit launched hundreds of rockets toward Israeli civilians during the recent war, the IDF said on social media.
His brother, Ayman Muhammad Ghazali, allegedly carried out the attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, about 25 miles northwest of Detroit, last Thursday. Ayman was a 41-year-old U.S. citizen from Lebanon.
The Associated Press initially reported he had lost four family members in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon and the IDF confirmed Ibrahim was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Hezbollah military structure last week.
The Thursday attack targeted both the synagogue and its on-site child care center, where about 140 children were present.
Authorities said the suspect drove a vehicle into the building. No congregants or children were seriously injured, though Ayman died in the attack. Video from the scene showed black smoke rising from the building after the vehicle caught fire.
Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, called the attack “a deeply disturbing and tragic incident” and said the agency is leading the investigation. She described it as “a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community” and extended the FBI’s condolences to victims and their families.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said during a Friday news conference that the attack was motivated by antisemitism.
“Yesterday’s attack was antisemitism. It was hate, plain and simple,” Whitmer said.
She emphasized that rising threats against Jewish communities make it critical to speak out against hate.
“This community is on the edge,” Whitmer added. “It is important for us to stand up, to stand against it, and to call out where we see acts of antisemitism and threats.”
President Donald Trump also addressed the incident Thursday, saying he had been fully briefed and offering support to the Jewish community in Michigan.
“It’s a terrible thing. We’re going to get right down to the bottom of it,” he said.
The attack comes amid a broader rise in antisemitic incidents in the U.S. and worldwide. Jewish institutions, including synagogues and schools, have increasingly strengthened security measures in recent months.
The incident also echoes a September 2025 attack in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, when a gunman rammed a vehicle into a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building, opened fire, and set the structure on fire.
This investigation is ongoing.
