The attack earlier this month on a synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, was "a Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism purposely targeting the Jewish community and the largest Jewish temple in Michigan," the FBI said in a news conference Monday, as quoted by CNN.
The assailant, Ayman Ghazali, a naturalized US citizen from Lebanon, rammed a pickup truck into the synagogue on March 12, as more than 100 children were attending school inside.
After waiting in the synagogue's parking lot for more than two hours, authorities said, Ghazali drove the truck far into the building, hitting a security officer, before the vehicle became wedged in a hallway.
Security officers for the synagogue began exchanging gunfire with Ghazali, who eventually shot and killed himself inside the truck. During the chaos, the truck's engine compartment caught fire and caused extensive damage to the building. The truck, officials said, was filled with explosives and flammable liquid believed to be gasoline.
No one else was killed. One of the synagogue’s lead security officers was injured after being hit by the vehicle.
In the days after the attack, US officials said Ghazali was located in federal government databases as having connections to "known or suspected terrorists" associated with Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
A week prior to the attack, members of Ghazali's family in Lebanon, including two brothers, were killed in an Israeli airstrike as the US and Israel entered its second week of conflict with Iran.
The IDF had confirmed that Ghazali’s brother, Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali, was a Hezbollah commander who had been eliminated in strikes in Lebanon.
Planning for the attack began days beforehand, the FBI said, intensifying on March 9. A review of Ghazali's online activity dating to January showed repeated searches for pro-Hezbollah and Iranian news outlets, as well as videos related to gunfire and ammunition.
Beginning March 9, the FBI said, he closely followed speeches and live coverage involving Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem, along with reporting about an Iranian fatwa, a religious ruling concerning Islamic law, calling for total jihad against the US military.