“It wasn’t a bullet from a stray. It wasn’t an accident. It was a bullet fired on her.”
These are the words of the mother of one of the victims, 10-year-old Matilda, who was fatally shot on the first day of Hanukkah at Bondi Beach on Sunday.
As attendees prepared to light the menorah, officials say that Sajid Akram, 50, and his son Naveed, 24, opened fire on the people at the event, killing 15. The attack, which lasted less than 10 minutes, also left 24 people injured. It is the deadliest act of terrorism in Australian history and the most lethal assault on Jews since Oct. 7, 2023.
The shooters’ ties to the Islamic State group
At a press conference on Tuesday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the attack appeared to be inspired by the Islamic State, also called ISIS.
Australian police found two homemade Islamic State flags and improvised explosive devices in the car that Sajid and Naveed Akram drove to Bondi Beach on Sunday, The New York Times reported.
The father and son’s recent trip to the Philippines is also under investigation, since the area they visited is a center for Islamic State militant activity.
The Guardian reported that Sajid and Naveed Akram could have “sought military training from the small number of active extremist factions in Mindanao,” but police officials have not publicized details from the trip.
“Radical perversion of Islam is absolutely a problem,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at a conference Tuesday. “It is something that has been identified globally as a problem as well. ISIS was created by an evil ideology that has been called out not just by the Australian Government, but globally as well.”
Sajid Akram immigrated from southern India in 1998. Relatives still in India told Australian officials Sajid rarely contacted them and had only visited India six times since he left, per The New York Times.
Sajid legally owned six firearms, according to authorities.
Australia says it will crack down on guns
At the Tuesday press conference, Albanese said the Australian government “will take whatever action is necessary,” including “the need for tougher gun laws.”
He specifically proposed three changes to gun laws:
- Limit the number of guns that can be licensed by individuals
- Review licenses to see if owners have “become radicalized”
- Allow agencies to examine what can be done in this area
He said he would propose the ideas to his cabinet that afternoon. “If there’s anything we can do, I’m certainly up for it,” he said.
The attack ‘hasn’t come without warning’
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry published its 2025 report on antisemitic incidents in Australia on Dec. 3, just two weeks before the attack.
“The total number of reported antisemitic incidents in Australia has continued at unprecedentedly high levels for a second consecutive year,” the report began. The total remains three times higher than any year before Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Between Oct. 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2025, an Australian security group counted 1,654 antisemitic incidents, including physical assault, vandalism, harassment and more.
The report includes photos of antisemitic graffiti, much of which contained violent threats.
Australia’s special envoy on antisemitism, Jillian Segal, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that given the country’s rise in antisemitic behavior, Sunday’s deadly attack was shocking but not unexpected.
“It hasn’t come without warning,” she said, and urged the government to increase security for the Jewish community.