Israel criticizes Australia after Bondi Beach terror incident. The shootings took place on the first night of Hanukkah and follow a series of anti-Semitic incidents since the Gaza war

At least 12 people were killed and nearly 30 injured after gunmen opened fire on an event related to the Jewish holiday Hanukkah on Sydney's Bondi Beach on Sunday. Australian police and officials described the incident as a terrorist attack, while the Israeli foreign minister said the Australian government must “come to its senses” and act after countless warnings about anti-Semitism, Reuters reports, according to News.ro.

One of the suspects was killed and another is in a critical condition, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon told a news conference. At least 29 injured people, including two policemen, were taken to hospital, he said.

Police are investigating whether a third attacker was involved in the shootings, and a bomb disposal unit was working to dispose of several suspected improvised explosive devices, Lanyon said.

Mike Burgess, a senior Australian intelligence official, said one of the suspected attackers was known to authorities but had not been considered an immediate threat.

Israel criticizes Australia

Sunday's shootings were the worst in a series of anti-Semitic attacks targeting synagogues, buildings and cars in Australia since the start of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023.

Mass shootings are rare in Australia, one of the safest countries in the world. Sunday's attack was the country's worst such incident since 1996, when a gunman killed 35 people at a tourist site in the southern state of Tasmania.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called a meeting of the country's national security council and condemned the attack, saying the harm that had been unleashed was “incomprehensible”.

“This is a targeted attack on Australian Jews on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith,” he said. “At this dark time for our nation, the police and security agencies are working to identify anyone connected to this scandalous act,” he assured.

Witnesses said the shootings on the famous beach on a hot summer evening lasted about 10 minutes, sending hundreds of people onto the beach and into nearby streets and parks. Police said about 1,000 people were attending the Hanukkah event alone.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Jews who had gone to light the first Hanukkah candle on the beach had been attacked by “low-level terrorists”.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was horrified by the armed incident and that the Australian government needed to “come to its senses” after repeated warnings. “These are the results of the anti-Semitic violence of the last two years on the streets of Australia, with the anti-Semitic calls and inciting the “globalization of the Intifada” and which have materialized today,” the head of Israeli diplomacy said.

“If we were deliberately targeted in this way, it's something of a magnitude that none of us could have ever imagined. It's a horrible thing,” Alex Ryvchin, executive co-chairman of the Executive Council of Australian Jews, told Sky News, adding that his media adviser was also injured in the attack.

Australia has recorded thousands of incidents of arson, bottle attacks, graffiti and anti-Jewish hate speech since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel and the subsequent Israeli offensive on Gaza.

The Bondi Beach shootings have turned into reality a fear many Australian Jews say they live with: that they are no longer safe in the country. “This is the biggest fear of the Jewish community,” Alex Ryvchin told Sky News. “This fear has been latent for a long time, and now it has turned into reality,” he confessed.

The Jewish community in Australia is small but deeply integrated into the wider community, with approximately 150,000 people who identify as Jewish in a country of 27 million people. About a third of them are estimated to live in Sydney's eastern suburbs, including Bondi.

“The inevitable has now happened,” said Rabbi Levi Wolff of Sydney's Central Synagogue. As a Jew in Australia, he added, “you're always looking back”.

Amid constant reports of Jewish parents fearing to send their children to Jewish nurseries and schools, which are hiring extra security staff, the government last year appointed its first special envoy to combat anti-Semitism.

“Being Jewish, it's been a very difficult few years,” said Terry, who gave only his first name and was at a nearby Hanukkah event that was closed. “We may have to move to Israel one day. The irony is that it seems to be the only truly safe place in the world where we can be Jewish,” he added.

Muslim groups condemned the shootings. “These acts of violence and crime have no place in our society. Those responsible must be held accountable and face the full force of the law,” the National Council of Imams of Australia, the NSW Council of Imams and the Australian Muslim community said in a joint 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,” the statement said.

“Australians are in deep mourning tonight after hateful violence struck at the heart of an iconic Australian community, a place we all know and love, Bondi,” said Sussan Ley, leader of the opposition Liberal Party of Australia.

A hero

One of the most famous beaches in the world, Bondi is usually packed with locals and tourists.

“I was just getting ready to go home, I was packing my bag, I was getting my flip-flops, I was getting ready to catch the bus, and then I started hearing the gunshots,” said Bondi Junction resident Marcos Carvalho, 38. “We all panicked and started running. So I left everything behind, the flip-flops, everything. I just ran down the hill,” he said. “I think I heard, I don't know, maybe 40, 50 shots,” estimated the eyewitness.

Bondi resident Grace Mathew said she saw people running past her and heard gunshots. “At first, you think it's a nice beach day,” she said. “You think people are having fun. Then several people ran up to me and told me there was an attacker, that there was a mass armed attack and that he was killing people,” she said.

Videos circulating on X appear to show people on the beach and in a nearby park scattering as multiple gunshots and police sirens rang out.

One video shows a man in a black shirt firing a large gun before being restrained by a man in a white T-shirt who wrestled the gun from him. The latter, the owner of a small fruit shop in the area, is considered a hero. He was reportedly injured, but is out of danger.

Another man was seen firing a gun from a footbridge.

Another video shows two men being held down by uniformed police officers on a small footbridge. You can see how the police tried to revive one of the men.

The attack came almost exactly 11 years after a “lone wolf” took 18 people hostage at Sydney's Lindt Cafe. Two hostages and the shooter were killed after a 16-hour standoff.