Sixteen people killed in Bondi Beach Hanukkah terror attack

Sixteen people have been killed in Australia’s worst terrorist attack after gunmen opened fire on Jewish people who had gathered to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah at Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach on Sunday evening. 

The shooting was a “targeted attack” on the Jewish community, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at a late-night press conference. He described the incident as an “act of evil antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” and flagged an uncompromising crackdown on anti-Semitism. 

“We will eradicate it,” he said.

Australia’s Jewish population was estimated to be 116,967 in 2021, one of the world’s 10 largest. Bondi, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, is among key Jewish communities in the nation. 

One of the gunmen is dead and a second is in critical condition in the hospital, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon told reporters at a media conference, where he designated the incident as a terrorist attack. 

New South Wales Police Force said in a post on X Monday local time that 16 people have died and another 40 remain hospitalized following the shooting, with two police officers among the injured. Lanyon said early Monday that the shooters were father and son, and that police weren’t looking for a third offender.

“Bondi Beach and surrounding roads in the Bondi area will be closed today as investiga...