Image source: Instagram/mian.ores – X
In a park behind Bondi Beach, a family was eating jelly donuts and children clutching balloons when the first gunfire cut through the music.
Two gunmen dressed in black and armed with long-arm rifles opened fire on hundreds of people, turning “Hanukkah by the Sea” into a war zone. It was 6:47 pm, just before sunset, and the white sand beaches and crystal clear waters suddenly emptied out. Thousands abandoned towels, surfboards and beach bags and fled in shorts and bathing suits.
Organizers had hoped the festival would “fill Bondi with joy and light”, but the attackers fired more than 50 shots in less than 10 minutes. Earlier, families had been lining up to buy ice cream, and witnesses later described “bodies all over the floor.”
Chilling footage shows the attacker calmly walking across a white footbridge from the Campbell Parade Center towards the crowd, firing his gun one by one. Naveed Akram, 24, aimed and reloaded his black shotgun before moving on to his next target as festival-goers ran for cover.
Image source: X/@AustralianJA
“Suddenly there was chaos,” said Arsen Ostrovsky, a Jewish leader who was shot in the head. “There was gunfire, there was fire everywhere, people were running for cover. We didn’t know where the gunfire was coming from.
“I saw blood pouring out in front of me and people falling to the ground. My only concern was: ‘Where are my children? Where is my wife?’ I saw children falling to the ground.”
Arsen Ostrovsky, a lawyer who until recently lived in Israel, bled profusely after the shooting
On the beach, witnesses could only watch and run. Mike Ortiz, 30, filmed the crowd rushing toward him. “It happened so fast. Kids were crying, people were screaming,” he said.
Hundreds flee Bondi Beach as two gunmen shoot 50 times into crowd – AFP
Closer to the park, victims hid behind palm trees or cars. Others fell to the ground covered in blood as sirens blared and police rushed in. The restaurant went into lockdown, nearby diners ducked under tables and lifeguards rescued swimmers from the water.
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An extraordinary act of bravery saved a life. Ahmed Al-Ahmed, a 43-year-old father and fruit shop owner, subdued one of the gunmen. Video shows him hiding behind a parked car before lunging over and grabbing the gun.
Credit:X
People could be heard yelling “come back, come back” as the second gunman dodged gunfire. Mr Ahmed was shot twice in the arm and hand and was later taken to surgery.
The heroic bystander was identified as Ahmed al Ahmed, a local greengrocer and 43-year-old father of two
Others sacrificed themselves to protect their loved ones. Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman was shot in the back of the head while protecting his wife Larisa. A festival-goer named Jess takes a bullet from a three-year-old girl, Gigi, who is separated from her family in the chaos.
Naveed Akram, one of the accused gunmen, on the bridge
About ten minutes after the attack began, police shot the attacker, who was later photographed lying face down on the bridge surrounded by red cartridges, guns and backpacks. Suspicious items, including improvised explosive devices, were found nearby. One suspect has been confirmed dead and another suspect has been detained.
X/@bonusik28 via Reuters
After the incident, footage showed the park littered with bodies. Emergency services frantically attempted resuscitation near abandoned prams and picnic benches. Survivors held up blood-stained tallit ritual prayers, mothers held children wrapped in foil blankets and injured victims were carried away on stretchers.
Blood-soaked blue and white tallit
Among the dead was Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi, which opened just over a year ago as a welcoming community center. Rabbi Schlang, a father of five, spoke earlier this year of the “resilience, continuity and enduring spirit of the Jewish people.”
Emergency services frantically attempt resuscitation next to abandoned prams and picnic benches
Israeli backpacker Kobi Farkash described the scene as “a sunny day turning into terror. Boom, in a second, everything was gone. I was running, hearing children crying, people screaming. It reminded me of Israel’s Nova Day on October 7.”
The massacre left 16 people dead and 38 injured, leaving Sydney’s Jewish community reeling from one of the deadliest anti-Semitic attacks in Australian history.
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