A Hanukkah event held on a grassy area near Bondi Beach in Sydney was attacked on the evening of the festival's first day when gunmen opened fire from a small footbridge close to a children's playground. Organisers had estimated more than 1,000 people were attending the outdoor gathering when the shooting began just before 19:00 local time.
At least 11 people have died and more than two dozen have been injured, including a child. One gunman was killed by police and another is in hospital in a critical condition. Authorities said a vehicle containing improvised explosive devices was found nearby but did not detonate. Police declared the incident a terrorist attack and said they were investigating whether a third person was involved.
Attendees described scenes of fear as bullets struck the fenced-in crowds. One man who identified himself only as Barry said he watched people around him being shot as the crowd fled. He told the BBC, "It was pandemonium and chaos," and later added: "It was simply an unbelievable scene... in today's day and age, that families and kids on Bondi could be completely mowed down for being Jewish."
Video circulated after the attack shows a man leaping from behind a parked car to wrestle a firearm from one of the attackers; state officials described him as a "genuine hero". Other witnesses described people crashing their cars while trying to escape and frantic scenes inside nearby shops as customers and staff ran for safety.
New South Wales police said they were treating the incident as a terrorist attack and deployed large numbers of officers, including helicopters, to the Bondi area. At a late-night press conference, police emphasised that many details remained unclear.
Officials repeatedly told reporters that they were still notifying families and could not release all information. As one frequent refrain at the briefing put it, "It's too early to give that information."
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said investigators were using all available resources and urged the public to avoid spreading unverified material. He warned against reprisals, saying: "I want to make sure that there is no retribution."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the attack as an "act of evil antisemitism" and a "vile act of violence and hate."
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar wrote on X: "The Australian government, which received countless warning signs, must come to its senses!"
Community leaders expressed deep shock and fear. Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, told Sky News that the community's "worst fears" had been realised.
Robert Gregory of the Australia Jewish Association said many members of the community would be reconsidering their future in the country. The Jewish Council of Australia said: "To be confronted with this horrific act of antisemitic violence during the Jewish festival of light and hope is shattering. In moments like this, we hold each other close."
Mass shootings are rare in Australia since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, an event that prompted sweeping national gun law changes. The Bondi attack is the deadliest shooting in the country in decades and comes amid reports of a rise in antisemitic incidents in Australia following the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent conflict in Gaza.
Sirens and emergency responders filled the area around Bondi for hours after the shooting. Residents and visitors described a neighbourhood deeply shaken by the violence.
One man, Fin Green, said he hid in a wardrobe for about an hour and a half after seeing the events unfold outside his window while on FaceTime with family in the UK. Broadcast journalist Danny Clayton, who was at the beach, reported chaotic scenes near the Bondi Pavilion. Restaurant worker William Doliente Petty said he was serving customers when he heard shots: "The whole shop just stood up and we ran into the back exit."
Many locals struggled to reconcile the attack with their view of Bondi as emblematic of Australia's relaxed, safe coastal life. As some put it in the immediate aftermath, "This sort of thing just doesn't happen here."