Gunmen Kill At Least 16 People In Attack On Hanukkah Celebration On Sydney’s Bondi Beach

SYDNEY (AP) – 16 people, including a child, were killed in an attack on a famous Australian beach on Monday, authorities said, after two gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it an act of anti-Semitic terrorism.

Hundreds of people gathered on the beach Sunday for an event to mark the first day of Hanukkah after gunmen opened fire. At least 38 people were injured in the attack.

New South Wales Health Minister Ryan Park said that the death toll increased from 12 to 16 overnight, including a 12-year-old child. It was stated that the other 3 children were being treated in the hospital.

“This is absolutely terrible for society in general, and for the Jewish community in particular. … What we saw last night was humanity at its worst, but also its best,” Park said.

Following the massacre on one of Australia’s most popular beaches Wave of anti-Semitic attacks It was these incidents that roiled the country last year, although authorities have not suggested they and Sunday’s shooting are linked. It is the deadliest shooting in almost three decades in a country with strict gun control laws.

One of the attackers was fatally shot by police, while the second was arrested and remains in critical condition, authorities said. Police said one of the gunmen was known to security services but there was no specific threat.

Mal Lanyon, the police commissioner of the state of New South Wales, where Sydney is located, said at least 29 people, including two police officers, were confirmed to have been injured.

Police said officers examined a number of suspicious items, including improvised explosive devices, found in the car of one of the suspects.

“This attack was designed to target the Jewish community in Sydney,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said.

The violence broke out at the end of a summer day when thousands of people flocked to Bondi Beach, including hundreds who gathered for the Hanukkah by the Sea event, which marks the beginning of the eight-day Hanukkah festival.

Chabad, the Orthodox Jewish movement that conducts outreach activities around the world and sponsors public events on major Jewish holidays, said one of the dead was Rabbi Eli Schlanger, associate rabbi at Bondi Chabad and one of the event’s organizers.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of an Israeli citizen but did not provide further details.

Police said emergency services were called to Campbell Parade in Bondi at around 6.45pm following reports of shots fired. In the video taken by viewers, people in swimsuits can be seen running away from the water while gunshots are heard. Separate footage showed two men in black shirts firing long guns from a footbridge leading to the beach, sirens blaring and people shouting in the background.

A dramatic clip aired on Australian television showed a man tackling and disarming one of the gunmen, before the man pointed his gun at him and then dropped the gun to the ground.

Minns described the man, whom relatives have named fruit shop owner Ahmed al-Ahmad in Australian media, as “a true hero”.

Lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky, who attended the Hanukkah ceremony with his wife and daughters, was injured in the head with a bullet. Ostrovsky said he moved to Australia from Israel two weeks ago to work at a Jewish advocacy group.

“What I saw today was pure evil, a complete bloodbath. Bodies were scattered everywhere,” he told The Associated Press in an email from the hospital. “It was like reliving October 7th.”

“I never thought this would be possible here in Australia.”

Lachlan Moran, 32, of Melbourne, told the AP he was waiting for his family when he heard the gunshots. He left the beer he was carrying and ran away.

“I ran as fast as I could,” Moran said. He said he heard gunshots continuously for about five minutes. “Everyone was dropping all their belongings and everything and running, people were crying and it was so scary.”

Albanese told reporters in the capital Canberra that he was “devastated” by the massacre.

“This is a targeted attack on Australian Jews on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy and celebration of faith. It is an act of evil, antisemitism and terrorism that strikes at the heart of our nation,” Albanese said.

He promised that the violence would be met with “a moment of national unity in which Australians will embrace their fellow Australians of the Jewish faith”.

King Charles III said he and Queen Camilla were “horrified and saddened by the most horrific anti-Semitic terrorist attack.” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he was appalled at X and that his “heart goes out to the Jewish community worldwide.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in his post on the X channel: “The USA strongly condemns the terrorist attack targeting Jewish celebrations in Australia. Anti-Semitism has no place in this world.”

Police in cities around the world, including London, have said they will increase security at Jewish sites.

Australia, a country with a population of 28 million, is home to approximately 117,000 Jews, according to official figures. Anti-Semitic incidents, including attacks, vandalism, threats, and intimidation, more than tripled in the country in the following year. Hamas attacked Israel The Government’s Special Representative for Combating Antisemitism said on 7 October 2023, in response to Israel launching a war against Hamas in Gaza: Jillian Segal It was reported in July.

Last year, the country was shaken by anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. In these cities, where 85% of the country’s Jewish population lives, synagogues and cars were set on fire, graffiti was drawn on workplaces and houses, and Jews were attacked.

Albanian in August He blamed Iran for two attacks and cut diplomatic ties with Tehran.

As Pastor Matt Graham was holding a service at Bondi Anglican Church, panicked people began running inside for shelter. He said antisemitism was growing in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, including Bondi, where the Jewish community is concentrated.

“I am constantly surrounded by anti-Semitic graffiti. I think I would like to declare that I stand with our community in the east (Sydney) and as a Christian, I stand with the people of Israel,” Graham told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Israel He called on the Australian government To address crimes targeting Jews. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: months ago he warned Australian leaders about the dangers of not taking action against antisemitism. He claimed that Australia’s decision, in line with many other countries, to recognize a Palestinian state “had poured fuel on the antisemitic fire”.

“Your government has done nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia… and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we see today,” Netanyahu said.

On Monday, his office issued safety recommendations for Israelis traveling abroad. They are advised to avoid large gatherings without security, especially synagogues and Hanukkah gatherings. It also calls for increased awareness on Jewish and Israeli sites.

Mass shooting in Australia It is extremely rare. The 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, in which a single gunman killed 35 people, led the government to drastically tighten gun laws, making it much more difficult to obtain a firearm.

This century’s significant mass shootings included two murder-suicides in which five people died in 2014 and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves.

In 2022, six people were killed in a clash between police and Christian extremists on a rural property in Queensland state.

McGuirk reported from Melbourne, Australia, and Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Mustakim Hasnath in London contributed to this report.