Lebanese official says man who attacked synagogue in Michigan lost family members in Israeli airstrike

WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — A man carrying a rifle stormed a large Michigan synagogue in what federal officials say was an attack and left four family members in an Israeli airstrike in his native Lebanon last week, an official said Friday.

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Ayman Mohamed Ghazali, 41, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Lebanon, was killed by security after he crashed into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township near Detroit and was driving into a lobby that caught fire, according to authorities.

The FBI, which is leading the investigation, described the attack on one of the country’s largest Reform synagogues as an act of violence targeting the Jewish community.

Synagogue staff, teachers and 140 children at the early childhood center were not injured, according to Oakland County Police Chief Mike Bouchard.

Ghazala came to the United States in 2011 on a direct lineage visa as the spouse of a US citizen, and became a US citizen in 2016, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The Lebanese government agency and the Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that an Israeli airstrike killed four people in the eastern Lebanese town of Mashghara on March 5. A woman was also injured.

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The effects of the Iranian war spread throughout the Middle East. Israel intensified its attacks on Lebanon after renewed attacks with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group.

A local official in Mashghara told The Associated Press that Ghazali’s two brothers, niece and nephew were killed in their home in the airstrike just after sunset while they were eating breakfast during the holy month of Ramadan.

The official, who requested anonymity because he could not discuss details of the airstrike publicly, told the AP that Qasim and Ibrahim Ghazali were killed, along with Ibrahim Ghazali’s children, Ali and Fatima. The official said that Ibrahim Ghazali’s wife was seriously injured and is still in hospital.

The official said Qasim Ghazali was a well-known football coach and personal trainer, while Ibrahim was a school bus driver in the village.

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The official said that Ayman Ghazali’s father was in the United States and returned to Lebanon recently.

In the minutes following the attack, smoke billowed from the synagogue. Bouchard said that one of the security officers was hit by the car and lost consciousness, but did not suffer life-threatening injuries. 30 law enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation.

Casey Cohen, director of strategic development at Temple Israel, was in the hallway where the incident occurred. She described hearing a loud bang, and said she grabbed a few employees, ran into her office and locked the door.

“When I heard the accident, I knew it was bad,” Cohen said.

She said the incident occurred near a classroom, and in addition to the children, there were also more than 30 synagogue employees.

Rabbi Ariana Gordon, of Temple Israel, thanked the security team, law enforcement and early childhood educators for safely removing the children and reuniting them with their parents.

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About a dozen parents rushed to bring their children shortly after the authorities evacuated the building. Other families were reunited at the nearby Jewish Community Center.

Allison Jacobs, whose 18-month-old daughter was enrolled in day care at Temple Israel, said she received a message from a teacher saying the children were okay even before she knew what had happened.

“There are no words. I was in complete and utter shock,” she said.

Synagogues around the world have been witnessing a state of tension and security measures have been increased since the United States and Israel launched war on Iran with missile strikes on February 28.

The FBI has warned that Iranian operatives may be planning drone attacks on targets in California. Two men brought explosives to a far-right protest outside the New York mayor’s mansion on Saturday. Investigators claim that they were inspired by the ideas of the extremist group Islamic State.

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An attacker ran his car over people outside an Orthodox synagogue in Manchester, England, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. He stabbed two people to death before officers shot and killed him.

President Donald Trump said he was fully informed about the attack, calling it a “terrible thing.”

“I would like to say I’m shocked, I’m amazed, but I’m not,” Steven Ingber, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Detroit, said Thursday.

This is the second attack on a house of worship in Michigan over the past year. Last September, a former US Marine shot and killed four people in a north Detroit church and set it on fire. The FBI later said it was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Oakland County is the second largest county in Michigan with a population of approximately 1.3 million people. The majority of the Detroit area’s Jewish population lives there. Temple Israel has 12,000 members, according to its website.

Durkin Richer reported from Washington, D.C., and Marwa reported from Beirut, Lebanon. Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit; Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin; John Sewer in Toledo, Ohio; Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., and Haley Golden in Seattle contributed.