image source, getty
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- Author, Tessa Wong
- Author title, Bondi Beach
- Author, Tiffanie Turnbull
- Author title, Sydney
The first day of Hanukkah was a scorching hot day in Sydney, a perfect afternoon to spend on Australia’s most famous beach.
More than 1,000 people enjoyed a celebration of the occasion in a Bondi green space: children ran around with their faces painted, crowds crowded around food trucks and many enjoyed live entertainment as they soaked up the last rays of sunshine.
Then, just before 7 p.m. local time, shots were heard.
From a small footbridge, just a few meters from a children’s playground, gunmen fired at the crowd of people gathered in the fenced area. There was a car nearby full of improvised bombs, but they never exploded.
One participant, who identified himself only as Barry, described how people around him were shot while hundreds of beachgoers ran screaming through the park to escape the attack.
“It was chaos, absolute chaos,” he told the BBC.
A video showed a man described by state authorities as a “real hero” jumping out from behind a parked car to grab the gun from one of the attackers and push him away.
“It was just an incredible scene… Today, Bondi families and children could be completely massacred because they are Jewish,” Barry said.
image source, Getty Images
At least eleven people were killed and more than two dozen injured, including a child. Police have also killed one of the gunmen, another remains in hospital in critical condition and police say they are investigating whether a third person helped organize the attack.
This is a devastating and unprecedented event for Australia – the deadliest shooting in this country since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.
That attack, which left 35 people dead, marked a turning point and led the government to introduce some of the strictest gun control measures in the world.
There have only been a handful of mass shootings since then, most of which involved horrific domestic violence rather than public attacks like today.
Police quickly classified it as a terrorist attack as anti-Semitic attacks have increased in Australia since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli offensive on Gaza.
image source, Getty Images
image source, Getty Images
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it an “act of evil anti-Semitism” and a “vile act of violence and hatred.”
However, some, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accused him of failing to address the growing trend of anti-Semitism in the country.
“The Australian government, which has received countless warning signals, must come to its senses!” Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar wrote in X.
Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Australian Jewish Community Executive Council, told Sky News on Sunday evening that the Jewish community’s “worst fears” had come true.
“It has been brewing under the surface for a long time and now it has become a reality.”
In a statement, Robert Gregory of the Jewish Association of Australia said many Jews would be wondering tonight whether they had a future in Australia.
“To be confronted with this horrific act of anti-Semitic violence during the Jewish holiday of light and hope is devastating. In times like these, we support each other,” the Jewish Council of Australia said in a statement.
image source, Getty Images
There is a lot that the police still cannot or do not want to reveal. But they have declared that it is a terrorist attack.
It is still unclear who the attackers are – it is not even known how many there are – and what their motives are. They said one of the attackers was known to police but was not under surveillance for such an incident.
Authorities also did not respond to questions about the deaths out of respect for the families who are still learning the news.
“It is too early to reveal this information,” was the most repeated phrase at Sunday night’s press conference.
But faced with the impossibility of providing answers, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon tried to reassure the public. The police are devoting all their resources to this investigation, he said.
He called on the community to remain calm and avoid spreading misinformation online, including speculation about the victims and perpetrators of the attack.
“I want to make sure there is no retaliation,” Commissioner Lanyon said.
Local politicians have also urged people not to share graphic images of the attack on social media.
After the shooting, sirens sounded across the city and the area around Bondi was packed with police cars as helicopters flew overhead.
There we find Fin Green, who was FaceTime with his family in the UK as he watched the shooting from his window. Without really knowing what was happening, he hid in his closet for an hour and a half until he thought it was safe to come out.
Danny Clayton, a journalist who was on the beach and watched the events from Bondi Pavilion, said some people crashed their cars trying to escape.
Many others in the area told similar stories. William Doliente Petty, a restaurant employee, said he was serving a customer when he heard the shots. “All the employees in the store stood up and we ran to the back exit.”
Australia prides itself on being a happy and safe country, and Bondi Beach has long been a symbol of this. But this picture is destroyed and the residents cannot believe it.
Sunday’s attack came less than two years after another tragedy nearby. There was a fatal knife attack in nearby Bondi Junction in April last year. Shocked, many then uttered the same words we have heard again and again today: “Nothing like that happens here.”
Additional reporting by Katy Watson and Tabby Wilson.
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