FBI links Michigan synagogue truck attack to Hezbollah inspiration

Detroit — The Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Monday that a man who rammed a pickup truck into a synagogue in suburban Detroit earlier this month was motivated by Hezbollah, citing a video in which he declared his intent to carry out a mass-casualty attack.

Authorities identified the attacker as Ayman Ghazali, 41, of Dearborn Heights, who targeted Temple Israel on March 12. According to officials, Ghazali waited in the parking lot for several hours before driving his vehicle through the building’s entrance and into a hallway used by an early childhood education center.

Law enforcement said Ghazali struck a security guard with the vehicle before exchanging gunfire with another guard. He later fatally shot himself during the confrontation. The pickup truck, identified as a Ford F-150 and loaded with commercial-grade fireworks and gasoline containers, caught fire at the scene.

Emergency responders evacuated approximately 150 children and staff from the building. Officials said no one inside the facility was injured.Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, said Ghazali recorded a video before the attack expressing a desire to kill as many people as possible.

Authorities also cited personal factors, including distress following the deaths of several family members in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon.According to U.S. intelligence officials, Ghazali had family ties to a Hezbollah leader.

Israel’s military said his brother, Ibrahim Ghazali, killed in the strike, was a commander within the group.Broader context and rising concernsFounded in 1982 during Lebanon’s civil war, Hezbollah has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and remains a political and military force in Lebanon.

The incident comes amid heightened global tensions linked to ongoing conflict involving Israel, Iran and allied groups.Temple Israel, affiliated with Reform Judaism, is among the largest congregations of its kind in North America, with more than 12,000 members.

The attack adds to a series of recent incidents targeting religious institutions, raising security concerns among faith communities in the United States and beyond.