Shooting at Australia’s Bondi Beach Jewish holiday event kills 12

At least 12 people were killed and almost 30 wounded when gunmen fired on a Jewish holiday event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday in what Australian police and officials described as a terrorist attack.

One suspected gunman was killed and another was in a critical condition, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon told a press conference. At least 29 people were injured, including two police officers, and were taken to hospital, he said

Police were investigating whether a third gunman was involved in the shooting, and a bomb disposal unit was working on several suspected improvised explosive devices, Lanyon said.

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.

Israel criticises Australia

Sunday’s shootings were the most serious in a string of antiSemitic attacks on synagogues, buildings and cars in Australia since the beginning of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023.

Mass shootings are rare in Australia, one of the world’s safest countries. Sunday’s attack was the worst such incident in the country since 1996, when a gunman killed 35 people at a tourist site in the southern state of Tasmania.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened a meeting of the country’s national security council and condemned the attack, saying the evil that was unleashed was “beyond comprehension”.

“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,” he said. “At this dark moment for our nation, our police and security agencies are working to determine anyone associated with this outrage.”

Witnesses said the shooting at the famed beach on a hot summer’s evening lasted about 10 minutes, sending hundreds of people scattering along the sand and into nearby streets and parks. Police said about 1,000 people had attended the Hanukkah event alone.

“I was just getting ready to go home, and, like, I was packing my bag, got my flip-flops, was ready to catch my bus, and then I started hearing the shots,” said Bondi Junction resident Marcos Carvalho (38).

“We all panicked and started running as well. So we left everything behind, like flip-flops, everything. We just ran through the hill,” he said. “I must have heard, I don’t know, maybe, like, 40, 50 shots.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Jewish people who had gone to light the first candle of the Hanukkah holiday on the beach had been attacked by “vile terrorists’.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was appalled by the shooting and that Australia’s government must “come to its senses” after countless warnings.

“These are the results of the antiSemitic rampage in the streets of Australia over the past two years, with the antiSemitic and inciting calls of ‘Globalise the Intifada’ that were realised today.”

One of the world’s most famous beaches, Bondi is typically crowded with locals and tourists.

“If we were targeted deliberately in this way, it’s something of a scale that none of us could have ever fathomed. It’s a horrific thing,” Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, told Sky News, adding his media adviser had been wounded in the attack.

Man seen tackling, disarming gunman

Bondi resident Grace Mathew said she saw people running past her and heard gunshots.

“Initially you just think, it’s a beautiful day down by the beach,” she said. “You sort of think that people are just having a good time. Then more people ran past and said there’s a shooter, there’s a mass shooting and they’re killing people.”

Muslim groups condemned the shooting.

“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 Australian National Imams Council, the Council of Imams NSW and the Australian Muslim community 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.”

Videos circulating on X appeared to show people on the beach and nearby park scattering as a number of gunshots and police sirens could be heard. One video showed a man dressed in a black shirt firing a large weapon before being tackled by a man in a white T-shirt who wrestled the weapon off him. Another man was seen firing a weapon from a pedestrian bridge.

Another video showed two men pressed on to the ground by uniformed police on a small pedestrian bridge. Officers could be seen trying to resuscitate one of the men. Reuters confirmed the videos from verified corroborating footage showing the same men.

The attack came almost exactly 11 years after a lone gunman took 18 people hostage at the Lindt Cafe in Sydney. Two hostages and the gunman were killed after a 16-hour standoff.

“Australians are in deep mourning tonight, with hateful violence striking at the heart of an iconic Australian community, a place we all know so well and love, Bondi,” said Sussan Ley, the leader of Australia’s opposition Liberal Party.

The South African Department of International Relations & Cooperation extended condolences to Australia following the Sydney attacks: “The Government of the Republic of South Africa extends its deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathy to the people and government of the Commonwealth of Australia following the tragic terrorist attacks in Sydney.

“Our thoughts are with all those affected, especially the families and friends of the victims. We condemn this senseless violence, which appears to have targeted the Jewish faithful while they were lighting candles for Hanukkah at Bondi Beach. There is no justification for terrorism or attacks on any group based on faith or identity.

“South Africa stands in solidarity with Australia during this period of mourning and grief.”

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) condemned the attack on the Sydney Jewish community and called on SA Jews to attend Chanukah candle-lighting tonight.

“The SAJBD expresses its heartfelt solidarity and sympathy with the Australian Jewish community following the heinous terror attack in Sydney as the community joined to light Chanukah candles. We condemn this despicable shooting against Jewish people congregating for the first night of Chanukah.

“This horror of this vicious terror attack resulted in the callous death of 11 community members with 29 seriously injured. We remember the anti-Semitic rhetoric that has been circulating in Australia in the years since the October 7 massacre, including vicious chants outside the Sydney Opera House for calls to ‘gas Jews’. There is no doubt that these threatening words lead to action and all governments, including ours in South Africa, should take these calls seriously.

“As South African Jewry light our Chanukah candles this evening, we will be thinking and praying for the Sydney community and for the full recovery of those injured. Our condolences go to the families and friends of those murdered in this brutal shooting. We call on our community to attend the Chanukah lightings around the country so we can unite in support for the Jews of Sydney at this very difficult time. Now is the time to ensure that the light shines during such a dark day for world Jewry.

“The SAJBD leadership will attend communal candle lightings in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.” DM

Reporting by Praveen Menon, Kirsty Needham, Stella Qiu, Cordelia Hsu; Additional reporting by Scott Murdoch and Pete Mckenzie in Sydney, Sophie Royle in London and Steven Scheer in Jerusalem; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by William Mallard.