Highlights
- National security council convened after the attack.
- Witnesses described prolonged gunfire and panic at the beach.
- Community and political leaders across faiths condemned the violence.
- Videos showed civilians confronting the gunman before police action.
A SHOOTING at a Jewish holiday gathering at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday killed 12 people, marking the most serious in a series of antisemitic attacks in Australia since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023.
Mass shootings are rare in Australia. Sunday’s attack was the country’s worst such incident 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 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 beach lasted about 10 minutes on a hot summer evening, sending hundreds of people running across the sand and into nearby streets and parks. Police said around 1,000 people had attended the Hanukkah event.
“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 gathered to light the first candle of Hanukkah on the beach were attacked by “vile terrorists”.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was appalled by the shooting and said Australia’s government must “come to its senses” after repeated 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.”
Bondi Beach is usually 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 that his media adviser was wounded in the attack.
MAN SEEN TACKLING, DISARMING GUNMAN
Bondi resident Grace Mathew said she saw people running 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 in a statement.
“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 in a nearby park running as gunshots and police sirens were heard. One video showed a man in a black shirt firing a large weapon before being tackled by a man in a white T-shirt who wrestled the weapon away. Another man was seen firing a weapon from a pedestrian bridge.
Another video showed two men on the ground on a small pedestrian bridge with uniformed police pressing them down. Officers were seen trying to resuscitate one of the men. Reuters confirmed the videos using 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, leader of Australia’s opposition Liberal Party.
(With inputs from agencies)
