‘Atrocity’: Sydney Jewish Holiday shooting declared terror attack – national

At least two people were shot and killed by gunmen on Sunday during a Sydney holiday party on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, Australian authorities said, declaring it a terrorist attack. Another gunman was shot dead by police and a second was arrested.

The suspect was in critical condition, authorities said. 29 people have been confirmed injured, including two police officers, said Mal Lanyon, police commissioner of New South Wales State, where Sydney is located.

The killings at one of Australia’s most popular beaches were followed by the country’s worst antisemitic attacks in the past year, although authorities have hinted at those episodes and Sunday’s shooting. They said that one of the shooters was known to the security services, but that there was no specific threat.

Prime Minister Anthony Albane declared that “an act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism has struck the heart of our nation.”

“This attack was designed to target the Jewish community in Sydney,” state Premier Chris Minns said. This outfit was said to be attacking terrorists because of the event targeting them and the weapons used, said Lanyon.

Hundreds have gathered at Bondi Beach for Chanukah by the Sea, celebrating the start of the eight-day Hanukkah festival.

Chabad identified one of the dead as Rabbi Eli Scclanger, an assistant at Chabad of Bongi and the main organizer of the event,

Chabad is an Orthodox Jewish organization known for its outreach to non-religious Jews. It operates many facilities around the world that are popular with Jewish travelers and often sponsors large public events for major Jewish holidays.

A video posted by viewers appeared to show suspected gunmen with long guns firing from the bridge. One stunning piece was apparently defeated by a member of the public and broadcast on Australian television shows that someone appeared to find and fondle one of the attackers, before pointing the man’s weapon at him.

Laclan Moran, 32, in Melbourne, was waiting for his family nearby when he heard the shots, he told related media. He dropped the beer he was bringing to his brother and ran.

“He heard a few pops, and I got out and ran away. … I started arguing. I just got those thoughts. He said he heard a shot and it opened for five minutes.

“Everybody just dropped all their stuff and everything and was running and people were crying and it was just scary,” Moran said.

Grace, 30, from Melbourne, who declined to give her last name, and her partner Joel Sargent, 30, told the AP in their hotel room when they heard out their window to see people walking down the street, hidden by trees and cars.

“People were crying, and then there was a loud gunshot,” Grace said. “It was constant; it was over 50 (shots), easily.”

Police said emergency services were called to Campbell Parade in Bondi at about 6.45pm in response to reports of shots fired.

Police said their operation was ongoing and officers were examining several suspicious items, including multiple explosive devices found in one of the suspect’s vehicles.

Albanise told reporters in Canberra he was “devastated” by the killings.

“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, an act of evil, punishment, terrorism that has attacked the heart of our nation,” Albenese said.

Albenese said authorities are working to identify everyone involved in the attack. He said “the grief and loss the families are dealing with tonight is more than a person’s worst night,

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“Let me be very clear that we will put an end to this terrible act of violence and hatred and there will be a moment of national unity where Australians in Australia will accept their fellow Australians with the Jewish faith,” he said.

World leaders expressed their condolences. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the “organized terrorist attacks” and offered condolences to the families who lost their loved ones

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was being encouraged by the attack “more and more attacks.” Police in London say they will increase security at Jewish sites following the attacks in Australia.

Australia, a country of 28 million people, is home to 117,000 Jews, according to official figures. Antisemitic incidents including attacks, vandalism, threats and intimidation took more than three in the country during the year after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the government’s special envoy for combating antisemitism Jillian Segal reported in July.

Throughout last summer, the country was rocked by antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and cars were burned, businesses and homes were destroyed and Jews attacked those cities, where 85 percent of the Jewish population of this country live.

The Albanians in August blamed Iran for two attacks and slashed the tires of Tehran. Authorities have made no such claims about Sunday’s killings.

Israel urged the Australian government to deal with crimes against Jews.

“The heart of the entire nation of Israel is missing a beat at this time,” said Israel’s Ambassador Isaac Herzoge. “We repeat our warnings time and time again to the Australian government to find action and fight the great wave of antisemitism that is destroying Australian society.”

Mass shootings in Australia are very rare. The massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to further tighten gun laws and make it more difficult for Australians to obtain firearms.

Significant mass shootings of this century include two killings of five people in 2014, and seven in 2018, where gunmen killed their families and themselves.

In 2022, six people were killed in a shootout between police and Christian activists in rural Queensland State.

–McGuirk was reported from Melbourne, Australia, and Graham-Mclay from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press reporter Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.