Not less than 11 individuals have been shot and killed in an assault focusing on a Jewish gathering on Sunday, the primary day of Hanukkah, on Australia’s Bondi Seashore, in accordance with Australian authorities officers and police.
Considered one of two gunmen recognized within the capturing was additionally lifeless, and the second was hospitalized “in critical situation,” police stated. One other 29 individuals have been taken to hospitals with accidents, together with two officers and a baby.
The capturing came about at a celebration referred to as Hanukkah by the Sea, held to mark the start of the Jewish vacation noticed from sunset on Sunday till Monday, Dec. 22. Greater than 1,000 have been on the seashore when gunfire broke out, stated New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon at a information convention on Sunday. Lanyon referred to as the assault a “terrorist incident.” New South Wales is the Australian state the place Bondi Seashore is positioned, in a suburb of Sydney.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns stated the assault “was designed to focus on Sydney’s Jewish neighborhood.” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has additionally characterised the capturing as “a focused assault on Jewish Australians.”
“This afternoon, there was a devastating terrorist incident at Bondi and the Hanukkah by the Sea celebration,” stated Albanese at a information convention he convened within the wake of the capturing. “This can be a focused assault on Jewish Australians on the primary day of Hanukkah, which ought to be a day of pleasure, a celebration of religion, an act of evil antisemitism — terrorism — that has struck the guts of our nation.”
Lanyon stated police discovered an explosive system in a automobile, linked to the deceased suspect. A rescue bomb disposal crew was on the scene on Bondi Seashore, he stated.
Police weren’t releasing extra data on the gunmen implicated within the capturing, in accordance with Lanyon, though he stated at Sunday’s convention that officers have been investigating whether or not a 3rd gunman was concerned.
Photos and video footage have emerged from the scene of the assault, displaying the injured being wheeled away on stretchers by first responders. One video appeared to point out somebody wrestling with one of many suspected gunmen and taking his weapon from him, in accordance with Minns, who paid tribute to that particular person.
“The scenes in Bondi are surprising and distressing,” stated Albanese in a press release. “My ideas are with each individual affected.”
Mass shootings in Australia are uncommon. However researchers have recorded dramatic upticks in antisemitic incidents within the nation for the reason that Oct. 7, 2023, assault by Hamas terrorists on Israel triggered the struggle in Gaza, together with spikes in hate incidents in opposition to Muslim teams.
In response, the Australian authorities appointed particular envoys final yr to deal with antisemitism and Islamophobia in its communities. Nonetheless, assaults have continued to occur since then. In July, an arsonist set fireplace to the door of a synagogue in Melbourne, one other main Australian metropolis, seven months after a special synagogue in the identical metropolis was burned by criminals in a blaze that injured one worshipper.
This can be a breaking information story. Please test again for updates.
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