Bondi Beach Terror Attack: At Least 16 Killed as Gunmen Target Jewish Holiday Event  

At least 16 people have been killed and dozens injured after two gunmen opened fire on a Jewish holiday event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, in what officials have described as the deadliest mass shooting to hit Australia in 30 years.

The shooting, which Australian authorities have declared a terror attack, targeted hundreds of people celebrating Hanukkah at the beach. One witness said people who were not part of the Hanukkah event were ushered aside by the shooters. The victims were aged between 10 and 87.

Authorities identified the suspects as 50-year-old Sajid Akram and his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram. The 24-year-old suspect is an Australian-born citizen, while his father arrived in the country on a student visa in 1998 and later transferred to a partner visa in 2001. The 50-year-old suspect has since been on resident return visas following overseas trips.

At least 40 people were confirmed wounded in the shooting, which began around 6.45 p.m. on Sunday at one of Sydney's most popular tourist destinations. One gunman was shot and a second was arrested.

Police said at a press conference on Monday, before naming the suspects, that the father, a 50-year-old, was killed at the scene, while his 24-year-old son was in critical condition in the hospital.

The father had legally purchased six guns, according to police, which were found at the crime scene.

Police also said they disarmed two explosive devices found in the suspects’ car parked at the scene of the shooting. These devices were described as “improvised” and “active” by New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon.

Read more: How We Must Continue to Fight Antisemitism 80 Years After the Liberation of Auschwitz

Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese said that “there’s no evidence that these people were part of a cell” and that “it’s extreme perversion of Islam that has resulted in these catastrophic consequences.”

“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy,” Albanese said, adding, “An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian.”

The national cabinet agreed during a Monday meeting that “immediate action” should be taken to strengthen the country’s gun laws, according to a press release from Albanese’s office.

Mourners gathered on Monday at the scene of the shooting to pay tribute to the victims of the attack, hanging Israeli and Australian flags, laying flowers, and lighting candles. Rabbi Levi Wolff lit a menorah.

Long queues formed at Sydney blood donation centers, where people arrived to show support for injured victims of the shooting. Around 40,000 people booked appointments to donate blood across Australia on Monday, the Australian Red Cross told CNN in an email.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that people celebrating Hanukkah should not fear for safety following the shooting. Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy, who spoke with Trump by phone, shared the president’s message to Americans observing Hanukkah: “Straight from the president, his message to people celebrating Hanukkah today, he said, ‘they do not need to be worried. They should celebrate proudly, and they should be proud of who you are.’”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio strongly condemned the attack on Sunday, as several major U.S. cities increased police presence at synagogues following 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," Rubio wrote in a post on X.

The Bondi Beach Chanukah celebration was organized by a local Chabad group, which promoted the event online with free donuts, a petting zoo, and a giant menorah lighting. Video footage from the event, corroborated by witnesses, showed a mixed festive crowd with visibly Orthodox members distributing food to beachgoers, including Jews and non-Jews. Chabad is known for its global outreach efforts, and the Hanukkah festival is an annual tradition for the group.

Although the police are in the process of naming the victims of the shooting, Chabad confirmed that Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who helped organize the event, was killed in the attack.

In a post on X, Chabad said Schlanger had served as a rabbi and chaplain in the Bondi community for 18 years, since marrying his wife, Chaya. The post also quoted his recent warning about antisemitism, saying “In the face of darkness, the way forward is to ‘be more Jewish, act more Jewish and appear more Jewish.”

New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani posted on X that Schlanger had deep ties to Crown Heights, a neighborhood in Brooklyn. He called the attack a “vile act of anti-Semitic terror” and said it was “merely the latest, most horrifying iteration in the growing pattern of violence targeted at Jewish people across the world.”

Holocaust survivor, Alex Kleytman, was identified as a victim of the attack. His wife, Larissa Kleytman, also a Holocaust survivor, confirmed his death to The Australian, saying she heard loud “boom” sounds before seeing him fall.

“He came to Bondi Beach to celebrate Hanukkah. For us, it was always a very, very good celebration for many, many years,” she said, adding that she is still seeking answers, “His body is still there, and I am sitting there and don’t know what I have to do.”

Hero bystander

Dramatic footage of the attack showed dozens of beachgoers scattering as shots rang out. Another showed one of the gunmen opening fire for minutes from a bridge while the sound of sirens raged.

Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, told The Associated Press that he ran for his life when he heard shots ring out.

"You heard a few pops, and I freaked out and ran away. ... I started sprinting. I just had that intuition. I sprinted as quickly as I could," Moran said. "Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible," Moran said.

One video that has been broadcast across Australian television channels and viewed millions of times on social media showed a bystander tackling and disarming one of the gunmen before pointing the man’s weapon at him.

Chris Minns, the Premier of New South Wales state, where Sydney is located, described the video as the "most unbelievable scene I've ever seen".

"A man walking up to a gunman who had fired on the community and single-handedly disarming him, putting his own life at risk to save the lives of countless other people."

"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," he said.

Witnesses said a police officer who happened to be nearby returned fire on the attackers, leading to a shootout that lasted for 10 minutes.

Mass shootings are extremely rare in Australia. A 1996 massacre of 35 people in Port Arthur led to a dramatic tightening of gun laws in the country, making it much more difficult for Australians to acquire firearms.

Muslim groups in Australia condemned the shooting.

"These acts of violence and crimes have no place in our society. Those responsible must be held fully accountable and face the full force of the law," the Australian National Imams Council, the Council of Imams NSW and the Australian Muslim community said in a statement.

"Our hearts, thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and all those who witnessed or were affected by this deeply traumatic attack."

A rise in antisemitism

The shooting follows a steady rise in antisemitic attacks in Australia since the beginning of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023.

Figures from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) show that antisemitic incidents in Australia reached historically high levels, at “almost five times the average annual number before October 7, 2023.” The group documented 1,654 anti‑Jewish incidents across Australia between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025, in addition to 2,062 incidents nationwide the year before.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he had warned his Australian counterpart that the country's policies fuel antisemitism.

"Three months ago I wrote to the Australian prime minister that your policy is pouring oil on the fire of antisemitism," he said, referring to a letter he sent to Anthony Albanese in August following Canberra's announcement that it would recognise Palestinian statehood.

"Antisemitism is a cancer that spreads when leaders are silent and do not act," Netanyahu added during a televised public address at an event in southern Israel.

Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust memorial center, has repeatedly raised concerns about a dangerous rise in antisemitic attacks in Australia, including in personal meetings with the premiers of Victoria and New South Wales.

Following an arson attack on a synagogue in Melbourne in July, the center said that "not enough is being done." It called on Australian authorities to "implement robust educational initiatives to combat hatred and to teach about the dire dangers of unchecked antisemitism."

Jewish leaders from the world's seven largest diaspora communities convened in Sydney earlier this month to call for action against antisemitism in Australia.

Pope Leo responded to the shooting in Bondi Beach on Monday, calling for an end to antisemitic violence and offering prayers for the victims.

“Let us #PrayTogether for all those who suffer due to war and violence. Today I particularly wish to entrust to the Lord the victims of the terrorist massacre carried out yesterday in #Sydney against the Jewish community,” Leo wrote on X. “Enough with this antisemitic violence! Let us eliminate hatred from our hearts.”