At least 11 people were killed and nearly 30 injured in a terror attack that targeted a Hanukkah celebration at Australia's Bondi Beach.
Over a thousand people were in attendance for the event marking the first night of Hanukkah when two gunman opened fire on the gathering outside Bondi Beach, a beach outside of Sydney.
Video from the mass shooting showed the two gunmen perpetrating the attack, as well as an unarmed civilian wrestling and briefly disarming one of the gunmen, who would soon rejoin the other gunman and re-arm himself. The gunmen were then involved in a shootout with authorities. New South Wales police later confirmed one of the shooters is dead and the other is in custody in critical condition.
As for the civilian who disarmed the gunman, he was also shot in the attack and was transported to a Sydney hospital for surgery; a family member told the media he would be “OK,” CNN reports. “That man is a genuine hero, and I've got no doubt there are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said.
“The scenes in Bondi are shocking and distressing,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement Sunday. “My thoughts are with every person affected.” Albanese later issued a video statement on the terror attack. “As prime minister, I say on behalf of all Australians to the Jewish community, 'We stand with you,'” he said, calling the attack an “act of evil antisemitism.”
Among those killed in the mass shooting that targeted the Jewish community were British-born rabbi Eli Schlanger and Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman, NBC News reports. At least 29 people were transported to local hospitals from injuries sustained during the shooting.
“Antisemitism has no place in this world. Our prayers are with the victims of this horrific attack, the Jewish community, and the people of Australia,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
“A few months ago, I wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of Australia. I said that their policy was pouring oil on the flames of antisemitism and encouraging the hatred of Jews that is raging in the streets of Australia,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.
“Antisemitism is a cancer that spreads when leaders remain silent, and they must replace weakness with strength in facing it. That did not happen in Australia – and today, something terrible occurred there. A cold-blooded murder.”
Sunday's terror attack marked the deadliest mass shooting in Australia since 1996, when 35 people were killed in Port Arthur, Tasmania. Following that attack, Australia introduced some of the strictest gun control laws in the world; from 2023 to 2024, Australia recorded only 31 firearm deaths countrywide, CNN reports.
