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Twelve people have been killed after gunmen opened fire at Sydney’s Bondi Beach in an attack that Australian authorities said targeted a Jewish community event.
Australian police said one shooter was also killed. A further 29 people have been hospitalised including two police officers.
Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales, said at a press conference that the attack was being treated as terrorism.
Gunmen opened fire at the north end of the beach where an event to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of light, was taking place.
“This attack was designed to target Sydney’s Jewish community on the first day of Hanukkah . . . what should have been a night of peace and joy celebrated in that community, with families and supporters, has been shattered by this horrifying evil attack,” Minns said.
“This cowardly act of terrifying violence is shocking and painful to see and represents some of our worst fears about terrorism in Sydney.”
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Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the scenes from Bondi were “shocking and distressing”.
Video images from the popular Sydney tourist spot showed crowds of people fleeing from the beach in confusion.
One person who spoke to the Financial Times but declined to be named said that a friend of hers had been shot in the shoulder at the event and that the names of casualties, including a child, were already circulating throughout the Jewish community.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said that the attack had targeted “Jews who went to light the first candle of Hanukkah on Bondi Beach”.
“Our hearts go out to them. The heart of the entire nation of Israel misses a beat at this very moment, as we pray for the recovery of the wounded, we pray for them and we pray for those who lost their lives,” he said.
Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar said he was “appalled” by the shooting, which he said was “the result of the antisemitic rampage in the streets of Australia over the past two years”.
“The Australian government, which received countless warning signs, must come to its senses!” he added.
Additional reporting by James Shotter in Jerusalem
