A woman holds her baby in a blanket after the shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Sunday.DAVID GRAY/AFP/Getty Images
A celebration of the first night of Hanukkah turned to terror and bloodshed Sunday when two men opened fire on a gathering at Sydney’s popular Bondi Beach, leaving at least 15 people dead and dozens wounded in what political leaders called a targeted attack on Jewish Australians.
Police identified the gunmen Monday as a father and son. Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead during an exchange of fire with police, while Naveed Akram, 24, was injured and remains in critical condition in hospital under police guard.
Sunday’s attack began at around 6:50 p.m. local time, when the gunmen emerged from a silver vehicle parked near the northern end of the beach, which is located around seven kilometres from central Sydney. They walked to a nearby bridge overlooking a park and pavilion where around a thousand people had gathered for a Hanukkah celebration and began shooting.
At least 40 people were wounded, including two police officers.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Sunday’s attack was “an act of evil antisemitism, terrorism, that has struck the heart of our nation.”
Visiting the scene Monday, he said “the Jewish community are hurting today.”
“Today, all Australians wrap our arms around them and say, we stand with you,” Mr. Albanese said. “We will do whatever is necessary to stamp out antisemitism. It is a scourge, and we will eradicate it together.”
Like many Australians, the Prime Minister said he was intimately familiar with Bondi Beach, a popular and iconic surf spot, and one of Australia’s most famous destinations, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. This only made the attack more shocking, Mr. Albanese said.
Sunday’s shooting follows a string of attacks on synagogues, buildings and individuals in Australia since Israel’s invasion of Gaza in late 2023. Mr. Albanese’s Labor government has faced criticism from some quarters for not doing enough in response.
Israel’s foreign ministry said one of those killed in the attack was an Israeli citizen.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the shooting was “cold-blooded murder” and that antisemitism “spreads when leaders stay silent.”
Jillian Segal, Australia’s special envoy to combat antisemitism, said the attack “marks the worst fear of the Australian Jewish community becoming reality.”
Mr. Albanese convened a meeting of the country’s national security committee soon after the incident, while police in New South Wales have enacted anti-terrorism powers as they investigate whether there was a potential third person involved in the attack.
Police said they found several improvised explosive devices in one of the suspect’s cars.
Video contains distressing content: Gunmen killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens more at a Jewish holiday event at Sydney's Bondi Beach on Sunday. The shootings, described by authorities as a terrorist attack, follows a string of antisemitic incidents in the country since the start of the Gaza war.
Reuters
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.
Speaking in Sydney, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said the attack “represents some of our worst fears about terrorism,” and was “designed to target Sydney’s Jewish community on the first day of Hanukkah,” an eight-day religious festival.
“What should have been a night of peace and joy celebrated in that community with families and supporters has been shattered by this horrifying evil attack,” Mr. Minns added. “Our heart bleeds for Australia’s Jewish community tonight.”
He praised the police response and singled out a member of the public whom a dramatic video showed disarming one of the gunmen after sneaking up from behind as the attacker continued to fire on people fleeing from him.
“That man is a genuine hero, and I’ve got no doubt that there are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery,” Mr. Minn said.
Bystander who disarmed armed man at Bondi Beach shooting hailed as hero
Australia’s Channel 7 identified the man as Ahmed al Ahmed, citing a relative, who said the 43-year-old fruit shop owner had been shot twice and had undergone surgery.
In a statement, the Jewish Council of Australia said the attack had left the community “horrified and shaken.”
“To be confronted with this horrific act of antisemitic violence during the Jewish festival of light and hope is shattering,” it said. “In moments like this, we hold each other close.”
Mass shootings are incredibly rare in Australia, one of the world’s safest countries. This is in part a legacy of tough gun laws and buybacks introduced following the Port Arthur massacre in April, 1996, which left 35 people dead. Sunday’s attack is the worst incident since that shooting in the Tasmanian capital.
Witnesses described their shock and disbelief, with many saying they assumed the gunshots were fireworks and only realized what was happening as crowds began fleeing the scene. The event, called “Chanukah by the Sea,” had been organized by Chabad, an international Hasidic Jewish organization that focuses on outreach.
Distressing content: Eyewitness video shows celebrations for the first night of Hanukkah at Bondi Beach turn to terror as people fled two gunmen who killed more than a dozen people on Sunday.
Reuters
“We were in the water and next second we see people laying on the floor, a kid was shot, it was probably the worst thing I’ve ever seen,” said Trent Tur, an 18-year-old lifeguard.
“Honestly, it’s terrible. As a community we can move forward from this. It will be hard but the spirit, the Australian spirit in Bondi is very high and we can move forward.”
Rabbi Mendel Kastel, whose brother-in-law Eli Schlanger was killed in Sunday’s attack, said it had been a harrowing evening.
“You can very easily become very angry and try to blame people, turn on people but that’s not what this is about. It’s about a community,” he said.
“We need to step up at a time like this, be there for each other, and come together. And we will, and we will get through this, and we know that. The Australian community will help us do it.”
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
In comments that were echoed by Australian lawmakers across the political spectrum, Mr. Albanese said an “attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian.”
“There is no place for this hate, violence and terrorism in our nation,” he said, adding he was confident that what will emerge from Sunday’s attack “will be a moment of national unity.”
World leaders were quick to offer their sympathy, with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon saying Australians were “family” and he was “shocked by the distressing scenes at Bondi.” British, French and European leaders also offered gestures of solidarity.
In a statement, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada was “horrified by the antisemitic terror attack” at Bondi.
“We stand with the people of Australia and Jewish communities everywhere in sorrow, and determination never to bow to terrorism, violence, hatred and intimidation,” Mr. Carney said.
With details about the perpetrators and their potential motivations slow to emerge, and wild speculation already spreading online, Mr. Minns called for calm, and urged the community not to respond with further anger and hate.
“We can’t let evil people like this divide Australia up,” Mr. Minns said. “They want Australians divided and at each other’s throats.”
Julian Leeser, a Jewish MP, said the country’s Jewish community is “known for its courage and stoicism.”
“Even in darkness, light endures,” he said in a statement. “Tonight, the values at the heart of Hanukkah matter more than ever.”
Two Muslim organizations, the Australian National Imams Council and the Council of Imams NSW, released a statement condemning the attack, and calling for solidarity with the victims.
“These acts of violence and crimes have no place in our society. Those responsible must be held fully accountable and face the full force of the law,” the statement said. “Our hearts, thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and all those who witnessed or were affected by this deeply traumatic attack.”
With files from Reuters