By Hilary Whiteman, Angus Watson, NCS
Sydney, Australia (NCS) — At least 11 folks had been killed in a terror assault on Sunday concentrating on the Jewish community celebrating the primary night time of Hannukah at Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach.
Around 1,000 folks had gathered on a grassy space at Archer Park when no less than two gunman opened hearth at 6:47 p.m. native time, sending panicked crowds working in all instructions.
One suspect was killed on the scene, whereas the opposite was injured and brought into custody. Police imagine a third suspect might have been concerned, however they cautioned towards hypothesis as investigations proceed.
It’s Australia’s worst mass taking pictures since a bloodbath nearly 30 years in the past noticed the nation introduce among the world’s hardest gun legal guidelines.
Here’s what we know:
Multiple fatalities confirmed
At least 11 folks died when the gunman began taking pictures lower than two hours into a Hanukkah occasion that was on account of begin at 5 p.m. native time. A 12-year-old lady and a rabbi are among the many victims, Alexander Ryvchin, co-chief government of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, advised NCS.
The occasion was marketed to have “live entertainment, music, games and fun” for all ages. Families had gathered on the grass, swimmers had been in the ocean, and witnesses bear in mind seeing folks dancing and banging drums.
New South Wales Police stated emergency companies had been referred to as to Campbell Parade, the highway that runs alongside Bondi Beach, simply earlier than 7 p.m., to stories of a taking pictures. Hundreds of residents and vacationers ran away from the gunfire, many throwing off their sneakers in their haste to flee.
Belinda Clemens was sitting on the rocks close to the north facet of Bondi when she heard gunshots. “It sounded like fireworks and then it sort of became clear that it was a shooting because people were running in either direction,” Clemens advised NCS.
Amy Gunia, a NCS options author, had simply flown into Sydney from Hong Kong for a household vacation together with her husband, toddler and child. Her household had simply completed having an early dinner at North Bondi and had been strolling again south previous Bondi Pavillion once they heard “pops.”
“I kind of turned around thinking maybe it was fireworks or something celebratory,” Gunia stated. “We had two kids in strollers and saw people closer to the pavilion running. Very quickly, it just turned into a panic situation.”
“There was a sense of disbelief that something like this could happen in Australia.”
Twenty-nine folks had been injured and brought to hospitals across the metropolis. New South Wales Police had been unable to substantiate the ages of these killed and injured however earlier specified that youngsters and households had been attending the occasion.
Hero praised
In one video circulated broadly on-line, a man in a white shirt is seen tackling one of many gunmen and taking his firearm. His actions had been praised by Australian authorities.
“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,” stated New South Wales Premier Chris Minns.
One suspect was killed and the opposite taken into custody with severe accidents.
Police arrange an exclusion zone round a automobile discovered parked on Campbell Parade which they believed was fitted with “several improvised explosive devices.”
The rescue bomb disposal unit labored on the car, and police later confirmed the IEDs had been eliminated.
Australian PM: ‘An act of evil’
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened a assembly of the National Security Committee on Sunday night and condemned the assault.
“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith, in faith, an act of evil, anti-semitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” Albanese stated in public remarks.
Albanese has been accused by the Jewish community and by political rivals of not doing sufficient to cope with the rise of antisemitism.
After the October 7, 2023, assaults, and as Israel waged its battle on Hamas in Gaza, charges of antisemitism surged in Australia. The authorities appointed a Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, together with a Special Envoy to cope with Islamophobia.
Earlier this month the Executive Council of Australian Jewries, the height physique representing 200 Israeli teams, launched a report saying the variety of antisemitic incidents remained at “unprecedently high levels.”
In 2025, 1,654 antisemitic assaults had been reported – down 19% from the two,062 recorded in 2024. Most incidents in 2025 had been verbal abuse adopted by graffiti assaults, in response to the ECAJ.
Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), stated Sunday that Australia’s menace degree stays unchanged at “probable.”
“Probable means there may be a 50% likelihood of an act of terror, and sadly, we’ve seen that horrific act happen tonight in Australia, he stated.
The Jewish community reacts
Jewish leaders had warned concerning the hate directed on the community that was expressed in graffiti and arson assaults on synagogues and locations the place the Jewish community gathers.
The Australian Jewish Association stated in a assertion posted to X that the tragic assault was “entirely foreseeable.”
“The Albanese government was warned so many times but failed to take adequate actions to protect the Jewish community,” the group stated. “Tonight, many Jews are pondering whether they have a future in Australia.”
The Jewish Council of Australia stated the assault had left its members “horrified and shaken.”
“Many within our community have just received the worst news of their lives,” the group stated in a assertion.
International leaders react
Israeli President Isaac Herzog interrupted a public assembly on Sunday morning native time to say that “at this very hour our brothers and sisters in Sydney, Australia, are under a terror attack during the lighting of the Hanukkah candle at a Chabad event on Bondi Beach.”
He stated they had been “attacked by vile terrorists.”
“We have repeatedly warned the Australian government of the urgent need to uproot the criminal and spreading antisemitism in Australia,” Herzog added.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar stated he was horrified and condemned the Australian authorities.
“This is the result of the antisemitic rampage in the streets of Australia over the past two years,” Sa’ar stated in a put up on X.
Other leaders around the globe despatched their condolences to the households of victims, together with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon who stated he was “shocked by the distressing scenes at Bondi.”
The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer referred to as the information of the taking pictures “deeply distressing,” Leaders from nations together with France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Ukraine, Moldova, Serbia, Estonia and Lithuania additionally prolonged their sympathies.
NCS’s Catherine Nicholls, Tal Shalev and Mostafa Salem contributed reporting.
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