At least 15 people were killed – including a Holocaust survivor, a rabbi and a young girl – and 42 were wounded yesterday in a shooting attack by two gunmen, a father and son, against a group of more than a thousand people celebrating the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, which was described as an “act of evil, anti-Semitism and terrorism” by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

The crowd milled among the food trucks, and many enjoyed the live music while soaking up the last rays of sunlight. Just before seven in the evening, the first shots rang out.

From a pedestrian bridge, a few meters from a children's park, two men fired at the crowd that was in the fenced-off area, the BBC reported.

A witness, who identified himself as Barry, described how they attacked those around him, while hundreds of bathers screamed and ran to escape.

“It was pandemonium,” Barry stated. “It was an inconceivable scene… That families and children from Bondi could be massacred simply for being Jewish,” he lamented.

Ahmed al Ahmed, 43, owner of a local fruit shop, lunged"like a true hero" at one of the attackers and managed to wrest the weapon from him, Barry said.

Al Ahmed was seriously injured; authorities considered his action decisive in preventing a greater tragedy.

New South Wales police posted on X early this morning: “Authorities can confirm that 16 people have died and 42 remain hospitalized following yesterday’s shooting.” At press time, 15 deaths were reported, along with the death of one of the attackers.

They added that the attack took place during an event called Hanukkah by the Sea, celebrating the Jewish holiday, in which about a thousand people were participating.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon confirmed that the two alleged attackers, Sajid Akram, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24, were father and son. At the time of publication, there were no reports on the attackers' nationalities.

The father was shot dead by police, while the son is in critical but stable condition in hospital, the commissioner told The Guardian.

“As part of the investigation, we conducted two searches last night: one in Bonnyrigg and one in Campsie. The 50-year-old man was licensed to carry firearms. He owned six registered to him,” Lanyon stated.

Police classified the shooting as a “terrorist incident” and revealed the discovery of explosive devices in a vehicle at the scene, linked to the “deceased criminal”.

Police explained that they found two “rudimentary” improvised explosive devices at the scene of the attack and that they were determined to be live. The devices were removed by a specialized unit and subsequently neutralized by authorities, CNN reported.

Among the fatalities were identified Frenchman Dan Elkayam, of the Arncliffe Aurora football club, which was set to join the English Premier League in 2026; Rabbi Eli Schlanger, part of the Chabad Hasidic movement; a 10-year-old girl; Alex Kleytman, a Holocaust survivor; and businessman Reuven Morrison, among others, reported The Sydney Morning Herald.

Organizers support illegal Israeli invasions

The ultra-Orthodox Chabad group, which organized the event on Bondi Beach, is known for its heavy involvement in supporting illegal Israeli settlements in collaboration with the Tel Aviv army, Al Jazeera reported.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was “a targeted attack against Australian Jews” on Hanukkah, the festival known as the Festival of Lights, which he said should be “a day of joy and a celebration of faith.”

He added that it was “an act of evil, antisemitism, and terrorism that struck at the heart of our nation.” The prime minister called the citizens who confronted and disarmed one of the shooters “heroes,” indicated that flags would fly at half-mast, and pledged, along with New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, to combat antisemitism in the community, while also discussing possible reforms to gun laws.

In December 2024, one of the most notorious cases of crimes motivated by anti-Semitism was the burning of the Adass-Israel synagogue in Melbourne, which police identified as a terrorist act.

On August 26, Australia expelled the Iranian ambassador and accused the Islamic Republic of orchestrating attacks against the Jewish community in the country.