At least 12 people died, including a gunman, in a mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, with another gunman critically injured and two police officers hurt, officials said. Around 6:45 p.m. local time on Sunday, emergency services were alerted to shots fired at the popular beachfront event, Chanukah by the Sea, which drew hundreds of attendees to mark the Festival of Lights.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the incident as a targeted attack against Jewish Australians and a terrorist act, stating that such hatred has no place in the nation and that authorities will pursue the perpetrators to the full extent of the law. Chabad, the Orthodox Jewish movement behind the event, identified one of the deceased as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, an assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and a principal organizer of the gathering.
Video footage from onlookers appeared to show two gunmen firing from a footbridge onto the beach. In one widely circulated clip, a civilian is seen attempting to intervene, tackling and disarming a gunman. The disturbing scene drew international commentary as Australia’s gun laws and public safety measures once again came under scrutiny.
Historical context notes that mass shootings are relatively uncommon in Australia, a country that enacted some of the world’s strictest gun-control measures after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, where 35 people were killed in Tasmania. The latest event marks the first fatal mass shooting in Australia since 2022, when six people were shot during a supposed ambush while responding to a missing-person case.
International responses followed swiftly. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attributed part of the blame to Australia’s leadership for not adequately curbing antisemitism amid regional tensions related to the Gaza conflict. In a English-language address, Netanyahu claimed he had warned Australian authorities in August that recognizing a Palestinian state could fuel Jew-hatred, a charge Australia had made moves toward in September. Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar expressed condolences and highlighted what he described as a rising antisemitism in Australia since the Hamas-led attacks in October 2023.
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the shooting as a heinous attack on Jewish families, while Israeli President Isaac Herzog urged Australia to confront what he described as a surge of antisemitism. In recent years, Australia has faced several antisemitic incidents, including arson attacks, with Prime Minister Albanese attributing some of these acts to Iran and taking steps to sever diplomatic ties with Tehran in 2025.
This tragedy underscores a global conversation about security, hate, and the protection of minority communities, and it invites ongoing discussion about how nations balance civil liberties with public safety in the face of extremist violence.
