Australian authorities say two gunmen targeted a Jewish celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, leaving at least 16 dead and dozens wounded in the deadliest mass shooting in the country in decades.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
An antisemitic terror attack at Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach killed at least 16 people, including a 12-year-old child, after two gunmen opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration Sunday evening, Australian officials said, calling it one of the deadliest mass shootings in the nation’s modern history.
Hundreds of people had gathered for the “Chanukah by the Sea” event, marking the first day of the Jewish festival, when the attackers began shooting into the crowd. At least 38 people were injured, authorities said.
New South Wales Health Minister Ryan Park said the death toll rose overnight from 12 to 16, confirming that one of the victims was a child. Three other children remain hospitalized.
“This is absolutely horrendous for the community broadly, but particularly the Jewish community,” Park said. “What we saw last night was the worst of humanity, but at the same time, the very best of humanity.”
One gunman was fatally shot by police at the scene, while the second was arrested and remained in critical condition. Police said one of the attackers was previously known to security services, though no specific threat had been identified beforehand.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said at least 29 people were confirmed wounded, including two police officers. Officers were also examining several suspicious items, including improvised explosive devices found in one of the suspect’s vehicles.
“This attack was designed to target Sydney’s Jewish community,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said.
The violence erupted as thousands of people crowded the beach at the end of a summer day. Video footage showed beachgoers fleeing from the shoreline as gunfire rang out. Other recordings captured two men dressed in black firing long guns from a footbridge overlooking the beach as sirens wailed and bystanders screamed.
In one widely broadcast clip, a man appeared to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, then pointed the weapon at him before placing it on the ground. Minns identified the man as Ahmed al Ahmed, a local fruit shop owner, calling him a “genuine hero.”
Chabad, the Orthodox Jewish organization that sponsored the event, confirmed that one of the victims was Rabbi Eli Schlanger, an assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and an organizer of the celebration. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said an Israeli citizen was among the dead but provided no further details.
Arsen Ostrovsky, a lawyer attending the event with his wife and daughters, was grazed in the head by a bullet. Ostrovsky, who moved from Israel to Australia two weeks ago to work for a Jewish advocacy group, described the scene as chaotic and horrifying.
“What I saw today was pure evil, just an absolute bloodbath. Bodies strewn everywhere,” he said in an email from the hospital. “It was like reliving Oct. 7 all over. I never thought this would be possible here in Australia.”
Lachlan Moran, 32, of Melbourne, said he was waiting for his family nearby when the shooting began. He dropped what he was carrying and ran.
“I sprinted as quickly as I could,” Moran said. “Everyone just dropped all their possessions and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “devastated” by the attack, describing it as antisemitic terrorism.
“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy,” Albanese said. “An act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation.”
He pledged a moment of national unity and vowed solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community.
International leaders condemned the attack. King Charles III said he and Queen Camilla were “appalled and saddened” by the violence. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he was horrified, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States strongly condemned the attack.
Police in several cities worldwide, including London, announced heightened security at Jewish sites.
Australia is home to approximately 117,000 Jews. Antisemitic incidents in the country have surged in recent years, particularly following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, according to Australia’s special envoy to combat antisemitism.
The country has some of the world’s strictest gun laws, and mass shootings are rare. The last comparable attack occurred in 1996, when a gunman killed 35 people in Port Arthur, prompting sweeping gun control reforms.
Authorities said investigations into the Bondi Beach attack remain ongoing as Australia grapples with the scale and impact of the violence.
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