At least 11 people killed in antisemitic terror attack on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia

Two gunmen attacked a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing at least 11 people in what Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an act of anti-Semitic terrorism that struck at the heart of the nation.

The massacre at one of Australia’s most popular and iconic beaches follows a wave of anti-Semitic attacks that have rocked the country over the past year, although authorities have not suggested those episodes and Sunday’s shootings were linked. It was the deadliest shooting in nearly three decades in a country with strict gun control laws.

One shooter was shot and killed by police and the second, who was arrested, was in critical condition, authorities said. Police said one of the gunmen was known to security services, but there was no particular threat.

At least 29 people were confirmed injured, including two police officers, said Mal Lanyon, police commissioner in New South Wales state, where Sydney is located.

Police said officers were examining a number of suspicious items, including several improvised explosive devices found in one of the suspect’s cars.

Shooting targeted Jewish holiday

“This attack targeted the Jewish community in Sydney,” said New South Wales Premier Chris Minns. He declared it a terrorist attack due to the event targeted and the weapons used.

The violence erupted at the end of a hot summer day when thousands of people flocked to Bondi Beach, including hundreds who had gathered for the seaside Hanukkah event celebrating the start of the eight-day Hanukkah festival.

Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movement that operates outreach centers around the world and sponsors public events on major Jewish holidays, identified one of the dead as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi of Chabad of Bondi and one of the main organizers of the event.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of an Israeli citizen, but gave no further details.

Police said emergency services were called to Campbell Parade in Bondi around 6.45pm to respond to reports of shots fired. Video footage filmed by bystanders showed people in swimsuits running out of the water as gunshots rang out. Separate footage appeared to show two men armed with long guns shooting from a walkway leading to the beach.

A dramatic clip shown on Australian television showed a man appearing to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, before pointing the man’s gun at him and then putting his weapon on the ground.

Minns called the unidentified man a “true hero.”

Witnesses fled and hid as gunshots rang out

Lachlan Moran, 32, of Melbourne, told The Associated Press he was waiting nearby for his family when he heard gunshots. He dropped the beer he was carrying and ran.

“You heard a few pops, and I panicked and ran away. … I started sprinting. I just had this intuition. I sprinted as fast as I could,” Moran said. He said he heard sporadic gunfire for about five minutes.

“Everybody dropped all their belongings and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible,” Moran said.

Local resident Catherine Merchant said: “It was the most perfect day and then this happened.

“Everyone was running and there were bullets and there were so many and we were really scared,” she told Australian broadcaster ABC News.

Australian leaders express shock and grief

Albanese told reporters in the Australian 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, a celebration of faith. An act of evil, anti-Semitism and terrorism that has struck at the heart of our nation,” Albanese said.

He promised the violence would result in “a moment of national unity where Australians of all stripes embrace their fellow Australians of the Jewish faith”.

King Charles III said he and Queen Camilla were “dismayed and saddened by this terrible anti-Semitic terrorist attack”.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on X that he was horrified and his “heart was with the Jewish community around the world.” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned this “appalling terrorist attack”.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was aware of the “appalling attack”. London police announced they would increase security at Jewish sites.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a message on X that “the United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Jewish celebration. Anti-Semitism has no place in this world.”

Anti-Semitic attacks rock Australia

Australia, a country of 28 million people, is home to around 117,000 Jews, according to official figures. Anti-Semitic incidents, including assaults, vandalism, threats and intimidation, more than tripled in the country in the year after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023 and Israel launched a war against Hamas in Gaza in response, the government’s special envoy to combat anti-Semitism, Jillian Segal, reported in July.

Throughout last summer, the country was rocked by a wave of anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and cars were burned, businesses and homes sprayed and Jews attacked in these cities, where 85% of the country’s Jewish population lives.

In August, Albanese blamed Iran for two of those attacks and severed diplomatic ties with Tehran. Authorities have made no such claims about Sunday’s massacre.

Israel has urged the Australian government to tackle crimes targeting Jews. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he warned Australian leaders in a letter months ago about the dangers of failing to take action against anti-Semitism. He said Australia’s decision – like many other countries – to recognize a Palestinian state “fuels the anti-Semitic fire”.

“Your government has done nothing to stop the spread of anti-Semitism in Australia… and the result are the horrific attacks on Jews that we have seen today,” Netanyahu said.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the Australian government should “tackle the enormous wave of anti-Semitism plaguing Australian society”.

Gun deaths in Australia are rare

Mass shootings in Australia are extremely rare. In 1996, a massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, in which a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to significantly toughen gun laws and made it much more difficult for Australians to acquire firearms.

Notable mass shootings this century include two murder-suicides that left five people dead in 2014 and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed themselves and their own families.

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

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By KRISTEN GELINEAU, CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY and ROD McGURK; McGuirk reported from Melbourne, Australia, and Graham-McLay from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.