Michigan synagogue attacker ‘lost family to Israeli attack’ – official

A Lebanon-born US citizen died after crashing his car into a Detroit-area Jewish house of worship

The Lebanese-born suspect in Thursday’s attack on a Detroit-area synagogue reportedly lost family members to an Israeli strike earlier this month, a local official has said.

The body of Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, was found at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, after he allegedly rammed his car into the building. Armed guards responded by firing at the vehicle. The Department of Homeland Security identified him, stating he entered the US in 2009 and was naturalized as a US citizen in 2016.

While officials said his motive remains under investigation, Mo Baydoun, the mayor of neighboring Dearborn Heights, suggested Ghazali may have been seeking revenge against Israel.

“Earlier this month, he lost several members of his own family, including his niece and nephew, in an Israeli attack on their home in Lebanon,” the official said on Facebook, stressing that he unequivocally condemned any attack on a house of worship or people seeking to pray in peace.

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Israel has renewed strikes on Lebanon as it joins the US in an effort to topple Iran’s government through targeted assassinations and strategic bombings. Militant groups hostile to Israel and backed by Iran, primarily Hezbollah, maintain strong positions in Lebanon – an ethnically and religiously diverse nation with a history of Israeli-inflamed factional strife.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that as of Wednesday, at least 634 people had been killed and over 1,500 injured in renewed Israeli bombings. The death toll includes dozens of women, children, and paramedics responding to the crisis, officials have said.

Ghazali was the only person killed in the Michigan incident. One security guard was lightly struck by the suspect’s car, and at least 30 law enforcement officers suffered smoke inhalation after the vehicle erupted in flames and started a fire, according to Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard.

The sheriff said Ghazali had a rifle with him. According to the media, his body was badly burned, and a large amount of possible explosives was found in the back of the car, suggesting he could have caused significant damage.