At least 15 people are dead and dozens wounded after two gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Dec. 14 in what Australian officials described as a targeted antisemitic terrorism attack.
Here’s what we know so far.
What happened at Bondi Beach
Sunday’s shooting erupted during a celebration marking the first night of the eight-day Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
The attack was allegedly carried out by two men, identified by Australian public broadcaster ABC and other domestic media as Sajid Akram, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24. The elder of the two suspects was killed in an exchange of fire with police, while his son, Naveed, was critically injured and remains in hospital.
Naveed Akram was charged with 59 offences on Wednesday, including terrorism and 15 counts of murder. He was previously investigated by the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) in 2019, in connection, the ABC reported, with the arrest of Isaac El Matari, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State terror group.
On Tuesday, police said the alleged shooters travelled to the Philippines in November and the purpose of their visit is under investigation. Citing unnamed security sources, ABC reported that the two men received “military-style training” while in Mindanao, a known jihadist hot spot.
At least 40 people were hospitalized after the attack, including a man who has quickly become an Australian national hero: 43-year-old fruit shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed.
Among the dead Sunday were Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who organized the “Hanukkah by the Sea” celebration at Bondi; a 10-year-old girl; and Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman, who was described as “killed while shielding his wife from the gunfire.”
Two police officers were among dozens taken to hospital with injuries, said Mal Lanyon, New South Wales police commissioner.
Witnesses said the shooting at the famed beach, which was packed on a hot summer’s evening, lasted about 10 minutes, sending hundreds of people running along the sand and into nearby streets and parks. Police said around 1,000 people had attended the Hanukkah event.
Police said they found several improvised explosive devices in one of the suspects’ cars.
Mike Burgess, a top Australian intelligence official, said one of the suspected attackers was known to authorities but had not been deemed an immediate threat.
The beach massacre was the worst mass shooting in the country since 1996, when a gunman killed 35 people at a tourist site in the southern state of Tasmania.
The heroic bystander who disarmed one of the gunmen
Video captured the moment a man rushed one of two gunmen at Bondi Beach and disarmed him while the second gunman continued to shoot from a nearby walkway. The state’s premier hailed the man as 'a genuine hero.”'
EyePress
A bystander seen in a widely circulated video disarming a gunman during a deadly shooting rampage at a popular Australian beach is being heralded as a hero.
Video footage posted to social media shows a passerby dressed in a white T-shirt and dark pants crouching behind a parked car before sneaking up behind a gunman, grabbing him and wrestling away his firearm. The bystander then points the weapon at the gunman, who falls to the ground, but eventually joins the other gunman on a bridge.
The bystander was identified as 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed by 7NEWS Australia, which interviewed his cousin.
He was shot twice in the aftermath, with wounds to his arm and hand, and needed to undergo surgery, according to the cousin identified by the news outlet as Mustafa. He said his cousin is a fruit shop owner and father of two from Sydney.
“We hope he will be fine,” Mustafa said. “He’s a hero. One hundred per cent, he’s a hero.”
The cousin of a bystander who social media showed tackling and disarming an armed man during Sunday's deadly attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach has hailed the man as a hero.
Reuters
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Ahmed’s bravery saved lives.
“What we’ve seen in the last 24 hours was the worst of humanity in a terrorist act. But we also saw an example of the best of humanity in Ahmed al Ahmed running toward danger, putting his own life at risk,” Albanese told state broadcaster ABC News.
A GoFundMe campaign set up for Ahmed has raised more than A$1.1-million within one day. Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman was the largest donor, contributing A$99,999 and sharing the fundraiser on his X account.
Witness accounts of the Bondi Beach shooting
At least 15 people were killed and dozens injured Sunday in a shooting at Sydney’s popular Bondi Beach.
The Associated Press
Arsen Ostrovsky, a lawyer attending the Hanukkah ceremony with his wife and daughters, was grazed in the head by a bullet. Ostrovsky said he moved from Israel to Australia two weeks ago to work for a Jewish advocacy group.
“What I saw today was pure evil, just an absolute bloodbath. Bodies strewn everywhere,” he told The Associated Press in an e-mail from the hospital. “It was like reliving Oct. 7 all over.”
“I never thought would be possible here in Australia.”
Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, told the AP he was waiting for his family when he heard shots.
“I sprinted as quickly as I could,” Moran said. He said he heard intervals of shooting for about five minutes. “Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible.”
A rise in violence against Australia’s Jewish community
Sunday’s shootings were the most serious of a string of antisemitic attacks on synagogues, buildings and cars in Australia since the deadly attack launched by Hamas in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza.
In August, Prime Minister Albanese accused Iran of organizing two antisemitic attacks in Australia and said his country was cutting off diplomatic relations with Tehran in response. The Australian Security Intelligence Organization concluded that Iran had directed arson attacks on the Lewis Continental Kitchen, a kosher food company in Sydney, in October, 2024, and on Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue two months later, Albanese said.
Australia’s Jewish diaspora is small, numbering about 150,000 out of a population of 27 million, but it is deeply embedded in the wider community. About one-third of them are estimated to live in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, including Bondi.
Increased security for other Hanukkah celebrations
Sydney Opera House sails are illuminated with candles on a menorah on Dec. 15.Jonathan Ng/The Associated Press
Jewish groups went ahead with Hanukkah events Monday in several Australian cities, while Sydneysiders held an impromptu memorial at the site of the massacre, where massive amounts of flowers and messages of love and support had already been laid. As well, the Sydney Opera House was lit up with the image of a menorah, the traditional symbol of Hanukkah.
Major cities, including Berlin, London and New York, stepped up security around Hanukkah events following the attack.
Members of Canada’s Jewish community are also calling on the government to ensure law enforcement ramps up patrols and takes proactive steps to protect their safety after the attack.
Levi Gansburg, the rabbi at Chabad on Bayview in Toronto, says his synagogue will “choose light over darkness” and move forward with its planned Hannukah celebrations this week despite the devastation abroad.
Toronto police say the force is closely monitoring the events in Australia and says people can expect to see “increased police presence in the Jewish community as a proactive measure to ensure the safety and security of the community.”
Montreal police confirmed in their own statement that the force is increasing its “vigilance and visibility” in areas where Hanukkah celebrations are taking place.
Netanyahu’s criticism
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the attack “cold-blooded murder” and said he had warned Albanese about antisemitism before Australia, along with Britain, Canada and France, recognized a Palestinian state in September.
“Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire. It rewards Hamas terrorists. It emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew hatred now stalking your streets,” Netanyahu said he had written to the Australian leader in August.
Leaders’ reaction to the shooting in Sydney
People pay respects at Bondi Pavilion to victims of a shooting during a Jewish holiday celebration at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Australia, December 15, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams TPX IMAGES OF THE DAYHollie Adams/Reuters
Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a social-media post on Sunday morning that he is “horrified by the antisemitic terror attack that has stolen the lives of 11 people,” the number of deaths reported at the time.
“Canada stands with the people of Australia and Jewish people everywhere in sorrow, and determination never to bow to terrorism, violence, hatred and intimidation,” Carney wrote.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford also paid tribute to Australia’s Jewish community, saying in an X post he is “praying for the victims and their loved ones.”
In Montreal, Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada called the attack on Australia heartbreaking and said she spoke with Montreal police to ensure officers have increased vigilance to support the city’s Jewish community.
“These communities are feeling anxious, and with our police we are there to support them,” Ferrada said in a statement.
With reports from Reuters, Associated Press, Canadian Press and James Griffiths