At least 15 people were killed and dozens more injured after two armed men targeted members of Australia’s Jewish community on Sunday in an attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney.
One of the gunmen was also killed and another 40 people were hospitalized in the attack. Victims in the attack range from age 10 to 87 years old, and include a rabbi, and a Holocaust survivor, CNN reported.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon told reporters the attack has been labeled a terrorist incident.
Police said the shooters were a father and son, a 50-year-old man who was shot and killed by police, and his 24-year-old son who is hospitalized.
The attack took place on the first night of Hanukkah, during an annual celebration called “Chanukah By The Sea,” with hundreds of people gathered on the beach.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the attack a “terrorist incident.”
“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith. An act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” Albanese said.
Police said they also found improvised explosive devices near the beach in a vehicle linked to one of the suspected gunmen, The Associated Press reported.
After the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel, antisemitic incidents “surged more than threefold in the country,” Australia government’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal reported in July, according to the AP.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement Sunday condemning the attack.
“The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Jewish celebration,” he said. “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.”
President Donald Trump addressed the attack at the White House on Sunday, expressing sympathy for those who were killed in Australia and also those killed in an attack at Brown University on Saturday.
“I pay my deepest regards and respects from the United States of America,” he said.
Trump also praised a man who was injured after confronting and tackling one of the shooters. The man is reportedly still hospitalized.
Utah’s Jewish community responds to Australia attack
A statement released by the United Jewish Federation of Utah said they are “heartbroken and outraged by the antisemitic terrorist attack targeting the Jewish community in Sydney, Australia, during a first night-of-Chanukah gathering.”
“This was a deliberate act of violence against Jews gathered openly to practice their faith. It must be named clearly: this was antisemitism,” the federation’s statement said. “Once again, Jews were targeted simply for being Jewish and for celebrating our traditions and our right to religious freedom. We must not ignore efforts to normalize hatred or to cloak antisemitism in political rhetoric.”
The federation said as Utah’s Jewish community gathers to celebrate this year, “The United Jewish Federation of Utah is in close coordination with local law enforcement and community security partners to help ensure celebrations across our state are safe and secure.”
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox released a statement Sunday that said, “Abby and I are heartbroken by the horrific antisemitic attack in Australia that took innocent lives on the first night of Hanukkah. Every person of faith should be able to worship freely and without fear. We stand with Jewish communities everywhere in mourning and solidarity.”
Hanukkah, an eight-day Jewish celebration, is also known as a “Festival of Lights.” It commemorates the lighting of a menorah in the Temple in Jerusalem. “According to the Talmud, only one ritually pure flask of oil remained, enough to last one day; but the flames fueled by this sacred flask ended up burning brightly for eight days,” Rabbi Meir Soloveichik wrote for the Deseret News in 2024.
