The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is examining possible international and personal connections behind the suspect in the Temple Israel synagogue attack in Michigan. The suspect had previously been reported in US intelligence databases for links to suspected members of the militant group Hezbollah.
However, he was not suspected of being a member himself, CNN reported.
Authorities identified the suspect as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old Lebanese-born US citizen. Ghazali rammed a vehicle into the Temple Israel synagogue complex in West Bloomfield Township on March 12.
Read more: Who was Ayman Ghazaleh, man linked to Temple Israel synagogue shooting
Why is the FBI probing Hezbollah links to Ghazali?
Ghazali’s family in Lebanon
Investigators said that Ghazali may have been influenced by recent events in the Middle East. CNN reported that two of the suspects’ brothers and their children were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the village of Mashghara days before the attack on Temple Israel.
According to Iskandar Barakeh, mayor of Mashghara, Lebanon, Ghazali’s brothers, Kassim and Ibrahim, died in an Israeli airstrike on March 5, as did Ibrahim’s children, Ali and Fatima. Barakeh told CNN the wives of the two men, as well as Ghazali’s parents, were injured.
According to Barakeh, three Israeli bombings have recently attacked the area, which is roughly 30 miles southeast of Beirut. One of the strikes targeted a Hezbollah-affiliated financial facility, causing damage to local schools.
Investigators are hence examining whether the deaths of his family members may have influenced the attack.
Read more: Suspect killed after ramming vehicle into Michigan synagogue
Hezbollah member’s contact info on Ghazali’s phone
Investigators said that Ghazali’s last recorded foreign travel was in 2019. He traveled from the US to Lebanon and returned to the country through Atlanta’s international airport. During that return trip, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) systems reportedly flagged him for what officials described as “threshold targeting.”
Threshold targeting is a screening process triggered when individuals appear in intelligence databases due to possible security concerns.
According to CNN, Ghazali was interviewed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents upon arrival in Atlanta. During the interview, he reportedly told authorities that his trip to Lebanon was for hair transplant treatment.
Agents also searched his phone, which reportedly contained contact information that links Ghazali to Hezbollah. Officials said the specific identities of those contacts and the nature of Ghazali’s relationship with them remain unclear.
However, authorities have not confirmed a direct operational link between the suspect and Hezbollah.
