March 15 (UPI) -- The man who drove a car into a Michigan synagogue on Thursday is the brother of a Hezbollah commander killed in a strike in Lebanon last week, the Israeli military said on Sunday.

Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that Ayman Ghazali's brother was Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali, who managed weapons for a group linked to Hezbollah and was killed in a March 5 strike on a storage building used by the Iran-supported organization, CNN and The New York Times reported.

Ayman Ghazali on mid-day Thursday filled his vehicle with explosives and then drove it through the front doors of Temple Israel in suburban Detroit, driving "with purpose" down a hallway as a fire started in the vehicle. He died by suicide after exchanging fire with synagogue security.

Israeli officials said Ibrahim Ghazali's death and link to Hezbollah was confirmed, although U.S. officials said after the synagogue attack they did not believe that Ayman Ghazali was a member of the group.

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