What we know
- At least 15 people were killed after a shooting during a Hanukkah event at Australia’s Bondi Beach in Sydney, police said. More than two dozen others remain hospitalized, some of them in critical condition.
- Police identified the two suspects as a father and son, ages 50 and 24. Officers fatally shot the 50-year-old at the scene, while the 24-year-old “suffered critical injuries” and was hospitalized.
- Officials declared the shooting a terrorist attack and said it was “designed to target” Jewish people. Victims included a Holocaust survivor, a 10-year-old and a two rabbis.
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government would consider further tightening Australia’s already strict gun laws and aim to eradicate antisemitism, a growing issue in the country.
- Ahmed al-Ahmed has been hailed as a "real-life hero" for disarming one of the gunmen and has successfully undergone his first surgery after being shot during the struggle.
Senior Holy Land Christian leaders condemn attack
Senior Christian leaders in Jerusalem have condemned the attack on members of the Jewish community at Sydney's Bondi Beach over the weekend.
"God commands us to respect all innocent human beings — this is a belief shared by all the Children of Abraham the father of the prophets," reads the statement issued Monday by the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem, the body that represents Christian presence in the Holy Land.
"We pray for all impacted by this violence," the statement added. "We pray for our broken world, that it may be healed, and all can worship freely and in peace."
The statement also praised Ahmed al Ahmed, a Muslim Syrian immigrant to Australia who tackled one of the shooters and has been hailed as a hero who saved lives through his actions.
Bondi Beach attack victim Dan Elkayam was NBCUniversal employee
Dan Elkayam, one of the 15 people killed in Australia's Hanukkah attack over the weekend, worked for NBCUniversal, which is owned by the Comcast Corp. and is NBC News' parent company.
"Sadly, I can confirm that he was amongst the victims," Jasmine Love, Elkayam's hiring manager, told NBC News.
Elkayam was earlier identified as one of the victims by Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s minister for Europe and foreign affairs.
According to a LinkedIn page that NBC News has verified as belonging to Elkayam, he was an IT systems administrator who recently moved from France to Australia “to explore new opportunities.”
A Sydney-based soccer club, Rockdale Ilinden FC, said in a statement on Facebook that Elkayam, 27, was a “Frenchman of Jewish faith” and “an extremely talented midfield player” with a passion for soccer. The club said he lived in eastern Sydney with his girlfriend and “loved the Australian way of life.”
Australian flags fly at half staff
The Australian and Aboriginal flags flew at half staff on the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the aftermath of the Bondi Beach shootings.In the Australian capital of Canberra, Parliament House also paid tribute by lowering the flag.
And at the scene of the shooting, over the Bondi Pavilion, the Australian flag also flew at half staff.
'Enough with these forms of antisemitic violence,' Pope Leo says
Pope Leo XIV sent a telegram Monday to the archbishop of Sydney expressing his deep sadness over the loss of “members of the Jewish community gathered for a Hanukkah celebration,” Vatican News reported Sunday.
The pope shared his renewed hope that “those tempted to violence will undergo conversion and seek the path of peace," the telegram said, and he offered his prayers for those still recovering.
Speaking Monday with the groups that donated this year’s Vatican Christmas Tree and Nativity Scene, Leo also asked for prayers for all those suffering because of war and violence, including the victims of the attack in Sydney.
“Enough with these forms of antisemitic violence,” Pope Leo said. “We must eliminate hatred from our hearts.”
Australian government pledges to eradicate antisemitism
Australia's national Cabinet pledged to eradicate antisemitism, hate, violence and terrorism after meeting today in the wake of the attack.
Ministers discussed the ongoing work to tackle antisemitism, such as establishing the National Hate Crimes and Incidents Database, enhancing security of the Jewish community and cultural sites, and coordinated work across intelligence and police agencies, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's office said in a statement.
They also urged overhauling gun laws as an immediate action, the statement said.
“Leaders agreed that yesterday’s horrific anti-Semitic terrorist attack has no place in Australia and that the evil scourge of anti-Semitism must be eradicated,” the statement added.
Family connections a risk factor for terrorist involvement, expert says
In a broad discussion about radicalization, one expert told NBC News that family connections can be a significant potential risk factor in extremist involvement.
What a family thinks “matters in a way that doesn’t necessarily apply for others,” said Andrew Silke, a professor of criminology at Royal Holloway University. He said that attacks by brothers were more common than by father and son.
Normally “the older family member is the one who introduces the younger family member to the ideology and kind of coaches them in, but there have been a few cases where the opposite has happened,” Silke added.
Silke said that it often emerges in terror investigations that there was a pattern of radicalization over time. An attack completely out of the blue, with no evidence of engaging with more radical ideas, would be “incredibly rare,” he said. “Normally, there are signs,” he added.
Online fundraiser raises more than $1 millon for 'hero' who tackled gunman
An online fundraiser set up in the wake of yesterday’s attack has raised more than $1 million for the man who disarmed one of the gunmen.
Ahmed al Ahmed, 43, was hailed a hero for his bravery after video circulated online showed him tackling the attacker and taking his gun.
Ahmed, who was hospitalized with gunshot wounds, has undergone his first surgery and might have to go through additional operations to address his injuries, his family said.
At the time of publication, the page set up on GoFundMe by Car Hub Australia and Zachery Dereniowski, had raised more than $1.4 million.
GoFundMe said in a statement on X that it seen “an outpouring of love for Ahmed al Ahmed following his heroic actions at Bondi Beach.”
The online fundraising website added that it was working directly with the organizers to ensure funds safely reach Ahmed and his family.
“All funds remain securely held with our payment processors during verification until transfer,” it said.
U.K. Rabbi killed in the attack was 'committed to bringing out good in the world,' friend says
The U.K.–born rabbi killed in the attack was “vivacious and energetic” and “committed to bringing out good in the world,” according to a close family friend.
Eli Schlanger, a Chabad rabbi in Australia, organized the Hanukkah event in Sydney where he was killed, along with 14 others.
Rabbi Bentzi Sudak, who grew up with the Schlanger family in north London, told NBC News’ British partner Sky News that they were “very vivacious people; always energetic and doing exceptional good work.”
He said they were “always thinking of new ideas to empower other people and do good in different ways.”
Schlanger was deeply involved in community volunteering, including work with vulnerable people, Sudak said.
“I think his biggest dream would be that everyone who sees this and the entire world would step up and choose to be the ambassador of light in their corner of the world and bring a world of beautiful light and peace,” he added.
Suspects named by local media
The two men suspected of carrying out the attack have been named by Australia's national broadcaster.
Naveed Akram, 24, who is hospitalized, and Sajid Akram, 50, who was killed during the incident, were identified by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Other local media outlets have also named the pair. NBC News has reached out to Australian officials for comment.
Three senior law enforcement officials in the U.S. and Australia told NBC News yesterday that one of the suspects had been tentatively identified by investigators as Naveed Akram.
Second rabbi killed in the attack, Chabad Organization says
A second rabbi was killed in the attack, the Chabad Organization said on Instagram.
Yaakov Levitan served as the secretary of the Sydney Beth Din or rabbinical court, "and was deeply involved in Chabad operations in Sydney," the organization said in an Instagram post.
