SYDNEY — At least 11 people were killed and dozens wounded after two gunmen opened fire during a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday evening, an attack Australian officials described as terrorism motivated by antisemitism.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the shooting targeted Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, a religious holiday meant to be marked by joy and celebration. Authorities said it was the deadliest mass shooting in Australia in nearly three decades.
Police said one of the gunmen was shot dead by officers at the scene, while the second suspect was arrested and remained in critical condition. One of the attackers was previously known to security services, although officials said there had been no specific intelligence warning of an imminent attack.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said at least 29 people were injured, including two police officers. Several suspicious items, including improvised explosive devices, were found in one of the suspect’s vehicles and were being examined by authorities.
“This attack was designed to target Sydney’s Jewish community,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said. Police formally declared the incident a terrorist attack based on the nature of the event and the weapons used.
The shooting occurred during the Chanukah by the Sea event, which had drawn hundreds of people to Bondi Beach to mark the start of the eight day Hanukkah festival. Chabad, the Orthodox Jewish organization that organized the gathering, confirmed that one of those killed was Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and a key organizer of the event.
Video footage filmed by bystanders appeared to show two gunmen armed with long guns firing from a footbridge leading to the beach. One widely broadcast clip showed a man tackling and disarming one of the attackers before setting the weapon on the ground. Minns later described the man as a “genuine hero.”
Emergency services were called to Campbell Parade at about 6.45 p.m. following reports of shots fired. Witnesses described scenes of panic as beachgoers fled the area.
Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, told The Associated Press he heard gunshots while waiting nearby for family members. “You heard a few pops, and I freaked out and ran away,” he said, adding that the shooting continued intermittently for several minutes. “Everyone just dropped all their possessions and were running and people were crying. It was horrible.”
Local resident Catherine Merchant said the violence shattered what had been a perfect summer day. “Everyone was just running and we were really scared,” she told Australia’s ABC News.
Speaking in Canberra, Albanese said he was “devastated” by the attack. “This is a targeted act of evil, antisemitism and terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” he said, while urging Australians to stand in unity with the country’s Jewish community.
Condemnations and messages of support poured in from world leaders. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the shooting a “ghastly terrorist attack,” while British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was being updated on the “appalling attack.” London police said security at Jewish sites would be increased.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States “strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Jewish celebration,” adding that antisemitism has no place in the world.
Australia is home to about 117,000 Jews, according to official figures. Antisemitic incidents have surged in the country since the Israel Hamas war began in October 2023, with assaults, vandalism, threats and intimidation rising more than threefold over the past year, according to the government’s special envoy on antisemitism.
Last summer, Sydney and Melbourne saw a series of antisemitic attacks, including arson, graffiti and physical assaults. While Albanese previously blamed Iran for some of those incidents, authorities said there was no evidence linking Sunday’s attack to any foreign government.
Israel urged Australia to take stronger action against antisemitic violence. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the attack underscored the urgent need to confront what he called a growing wave of antisemitism in Australian society.
Mass shootings remain rare in Australia due to strict gun control laws introduced after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, in which 35 people were killed. Since then, only a handful of mass shooting incidents have occurred, including a 2022 shootout in Queensland that left six people dead.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
- EDGARDO HERNAL
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