Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA – Two gunmen fired into a crowd of people celebrating Hanukkah on the shore of Australia’s most iconic beach on Sunday, leaving more than 50 people dead or wounded in what authorities said was a terrorist attack.
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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the shooting at Bondi Beach “a terrible terrorist attack during a Hanukkah celebration” during a Sunday press conference.
“This is a targeted attack on Australian Jews on the first day of Hanukkah,” Albanese said. “This is an act of anti-Semitism, pure anti-Semitism, that has struck our people.”
New South Wales police said early Monday Australian time that 16 people were killed, including a 10-year-old girl, and another 40 suffered injuries.
“What should have been a night of peace and joy celebrated in that community with families and supporters has been shattered by this horrifying evil attack,” said New South Wales Premier Chris Minns.
Bondi resident Felix Wilkinson said he didn’t think much of the commotion at first.
“We heard a few bangs, didn’t think much of it because people have set firecrackers off here before,” Wilkinson said.
“Then a couple minutes later, we heard quite a few sirens, went to our window and saw hundreds of people running off the beach and police cars swarming the area.”
Fourteen people died at the scene, police said, and 42 others, including four children, were taken to hospitals for treatment. Two of the injured people died and five others are in critical condition.
Two New South Wales police officers were among the injured and are in serious but stable condition, according to police.
One of the shooters, a 50-year-old man, died at the scene, according to police. The other, a 24-year-old man, was critically injured and taken to the hospital.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Sunday that improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, were found at the scene and removed by a bomb squad.
About the same time, police said “a number of suspicious items located in the vicinity are being examined by specialist officers and an exclusion zone is in place.”
Sunday was the first day of Hanukkah, and the holiday celebration, “Chanukah by the Sea 2025” at Bondi had been publicly advertised by its sponsor, Chabad of Bondi.
Free tickets were available at the online event site Humanitix. Organizers promised a giant Menorah lighting, Kosher food, a petting farm, face painting and more.
“Come celebrate the light of Chanukah together with the community,” the event advertising read. “Bring your friends, bring the family. Let’s fill Bondi with joy and light!”
But the joy vanished when shooters opened fire, at least one from a footbridge by the beach. The Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported that the shooting lasted nine minutes.
The killing may have been cut short when a bystander tackled one of the shooters and managed to disarm him.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp. quoted Minns praising the bystander, who the Sydney Morning Herald identified as Ahmed el Ahmed, a 43-year-old father of two.
“That man is a genuine hero, and I’ve got no doubt that there are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery,” said Minns.
The shooting comes on the eve of the anniversary of one of Sydney’s deadliest terrorist attacks. In 2014 at the Lindt Café in the city’s Central Business District, 18 people were held hostage and three were killed.
Bondi is still recovering from the April 2024 stabbing attack in the local shopping centre, where 16 people were stabbed and six were killed. It resulted in a major security upscaling at Westfield shopping centers around Sydney.
Wilkinson reflected on the aftermath of Sunday’s shooting.
“Everything’s just completely empty. It’s quite weird … the whole neighborhood is dead quiet and I think it’ll stay that way for a while,” Wilkinson said.
Isla Giron is a Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
