Bondi Beach Terror Attack: At Least 12 Killed as Gunmen Target Jewish Holiday Event  

At least 12 people have been killed and dozens injured after two gunmen opened fire on a Jewish holiday event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday.

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 celebration were ushered aside by the shooters.

At least 29 people were confirmed wounded in the shooting, which took place at around 6.45 pm on Sunday at one of Sydney’s most popular tourist destinations. One gunman was shot, and a second was arrested.

Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said police had found what they believed to be several improvised explosive devices in a nearby vehicle, adding that bomb disposal units were at the scene.

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

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

Albanese described the attack as “evil” that was “beyond comprehension,” and convened a meeting of the country’s national security council. 

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio strongly condemned that attack on Sunday.

“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.

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 anti-Semitism

The shooting follows a steady rise in anti-Semitic 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 anti-Semitic 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 anti-Semitism.

“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 anti-Semitic 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 anti-Semitism in Australia.