Ghazi Kanaan (Arabic: غازي كنعان; 1942 – 12 October 2005; also known by his nickname Abu Yo'roub) was a Syrian military officer and intelligence chief who served as Syria's interior minister from 2004 to 2005.

During the 1980s, he developed collaborators with the predominantly Christian and previously Lebanese Forces – Executive Command (LFEC) militia which was run by Elie Hobeika, but it was only about 2,000 soldiers.

[14] On the other hand, the head of Lebanon's Sureté Générale (General Security Directorate), Jamil Al Sayyed, reported directly to Kanaan, often bypassing the civilian leadership of the Lebanese government.

[15] After being an early backer of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad as a successor to his father, Kanaan was summoned back to Damascus in October 2002 to become the head of Syria's political security directorate, replacing Adnan Badr Hassan in the post.

Some believed that they both might have developed a challenging powerbase within the Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party against Bashar al-Assad in future.

[5] On 19 June 1998, Georges Dib and Nehme Ziyadeh, two members of the dismantled Lebanese Forces (militia) attempted to assassinate Ghazi Kanaan.

[5] Kanaan provided financial support to build the Jaafar Tayar mosque, established a library with seven computers and built a community center named for his father, Mohammed Ali in Bhamra.

[26] Kanaan was interviewed as a witness in September 2005 by a United Nations team led by Detlev Mehlis probing the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

"[6][27] Syrian interior ministry and other officials reported that Kanaan died in a Damascus hospital of a gunshot wound to the head on 12 October 2005.

Lebanese journalist Charles Ayoub stated in an interview with Tony Khalife on 26 October 2021 that Kanaan told him three months before his death that he was going to commit suicide and that he had already prepared his grave in his village.

For instance, Kanaan's death is seen as a move to cut a key connection to the alleged Syrian participation in the assassination of Rafik Hariri.