The first day of Hanukkah is ending in tragedy tonight, as multiple fatalities at a Jewish celebration on Bondi Beach are confirmed to be an act of terror.
Australian authorities have confirmed that the Jewish community was targeted in an act of terror on Sunday evening AEST, just north of the Bondi Pavilion on Bondi Beach.
The attack started around 6.47pm and resulted in at least 12 fatalities. A further 29 people have been transported to Sydney hospitals.
More than 1000 people were gathered at the Chanukah by the Sea celebration, the head of NSW police confirmed. A vehicle containing explosives was discovered on Campbell Parade in Bondi Beach.
Prime Minister Albanese called the attack vile, evil, and anti-Semitic.
”An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian. Let me be clear, we will eradicate it,” Prime Minister Albanese stated in a televised address.
”We stand with you, we embrace you. You enrich us as a nation. You should never know the fear you know tonight,” Albanese stated.
NSW Premier Chris Minns also addressed the nation in a televised press conference.
“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,” says Minns.
The Chanukah by the Sea celebration was a free event organised by the Chabad of Bondi. It was scheduled between 5pm and 9pm on Sunday evening, the first night of Hanukkah. An online listing for the event stated that the celebration was taking place at the Bondi Park Playground.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the “enormous wave of antisemitism plaguing Australian society.”
“Our hearts go out to our Jewish sisters and brothers in Sydney who have been attacked by vile terrorists as they went to light the first candle of Chanukah,” President Herzog writes on X.
The Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), headquartered in Melbourne, called Sunday one of the darkest days in Australian history.
“This is not just a terrible day for the Jewish community, for Bondi, and for Sydney but for all of Australia, and for the values we hold dear, that are the bedrock of what for so long has been our inclusive, harmonious society,” AIJAC Executive Director Colin Rubenstein wrote on Facebook.
The Australian Jewish Association also made a statement after the terrorist attack.
“What happened tonight is a tragedy but entirely foreseeable,” Robert Gregory, the CEO of the Australian Jewish Association, wrote on X.
“Tonight, many Jews are pondering whether they have a future in Australia. Our thoughts are with our community and all the impacted, some of whom we are close to.”
NSW police cautioned the public that this is not a time of retribution, and advised that special, temporary powers have been instated to investigate the act of terror under Section 5 and 6 of the state’s Terrorism (Police Powers) Act of 2002.
This is a developing story.
