A father and son opened fire on a Jewish festival at Australia’s Bondi Beach, killing at least 15 people, including a child, in what authorities have described as an antisemitic terrorist attack.
Gatekeepers News reports that the shooting occurred on Sunday evening as crowds gathered on the Sydney beach to mark the start of Hanukkah. Witnesses said the attackers fired into the crowd, triggering panic as people fled the popular tourist location.
Among the victims was a 10-year-old girl. Authorities said 42 others were injured and rushed to hospital with gunshot wounds and other injuries, making it Australia’s deadliest mass shooting in almost three decades.
Police said investigations into the motive were ongoing but confirmed the attack was clearly intended to terrorise the Jewish community. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the father and son may have links to the Islamic State group.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the attack while laying flowers at the Bondi Pavilion.
“What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism on our shores,” Albanese said.
The gunmen targeted an annual celebration that had drawn more than 1,000 people to the beach. From a raised boardwalk overlooking the shoreline, they opened fire for about 10 minutes using long-barrelled guns before police intervened.
The 50-year-old father was shot dead by police at the scene, while his 24-year-old son was arrested and remained under guard in hospital with serious injuries.
Hours later, police discovered a homemade bomb in a vehicle parked near the beach, saying the improvised explosive device had likely been planted by the attackers.
Rabbi Mendel Kastel confirmed that his brother-in-law was among those killed.
“It’s unbelievable that this has happened here in Australia, but we need to hold strong. This is not the Australia that we know. This is not the Australia that we want,” he said.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said authorities were being cautious about speculation surrounding the attackers’ motives.
“We want to get to the bottom of this. We want to understand the motives behind it,” Lanyon said.
Police also warned against misinformation spreading online following the attack, noting that some false narratives had targeted immigrants and the Muslim community.
Panic and Bravery
Amid the chaos, several bystanders rushed toward danger to help victims. Video footage showed one man, identified by local media as fruit seller Ahmed al Ahmed, wrestling a gun from one of the attackers as shots were fired.
Off-duty lifeguards ran across the beach to rescue children and treat the wounded.
“The team ran out under fire to try and clear children from the playground while the gunmen were firing,” said Steven Pearce of Surf Life Saving New South Wales.
Injured victims were carried across the sand on surfboards used as makeshift stretchers. A French tourist, Alban Baton, said he hid for hours in a grocery store cold room.
“Minute after minute, we were starting to realise what was happening,” he told AFP.
By Monday, discarded personal items littered a grassy hill overlooking the beach, while Australians observed a national day of mourning with flags lowered to half-mast.
International Reaction
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Australia’s government of “pouring oil on the fire of antisemitism” in the months preceding the attack.
US President Donald Trump described the shooting as a “purely antisemitic attack,” while Iran’s foreign ministry condemned what it called a “violent attack in Sydney,” despite earlier accusations by Canberra that Tehran had supported recent antisemitic incidents in Australia.
Mass shootings have been rare in Australia since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, which led to sweeping gun law reforms. However, Prime Minister Albanese said the latest attack may prompt renewed discussions on tightening gun regulations.
