Credit: Instagram/mian.ores – X
Families were tossing jelly-filled donuts and children catching balloons when the first shots pierced the sound of music in the park behind Bondi Beach.
Dressed in black and carrying long-armed rifles, two gunmen opened fire on hundreds, turning ‘Chanukah by the Sea’ into a war zone. It was 6:47pm, just before sunset, when the white sand and clear waters suddenly emptied. Thousands abandoned towels, surfboards, and beach bags, fleeing in shorts and bathing suits.
At the festival, which the organizers had hoped would “fill Bondi with joy and light”, the attackers fired more than 50 shots in less than ten minutes. Where moments before families were queuing for ice cream, witnesses later described “bodies all over the floor.”
Chilling footage shows the attackers walking calmly across a white bridge from Campbell Parade towards the crowd, firing one by one. Naveed Akram, 24, was seen aiming a black hunting rifle, reloading, and turning to the next target as festival goers ran for cover.
Credit: X/@AustralianJA
“Suddenly, it’s absolute chaos,” said Arsen Ostrovsky, a Jewish leader who was hit in the head. “There are guns, fire everywhere, people ducking. We didn’t know where the shots were coming from.
“I saw blood coming out in front of me, 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 lived in Israel until recently, was left bleeding profusely after the shootings
On the beach, witnesses could only watch and run. Mike Ortiz, 30, filmed crowds sprinting towards him. “It happened so quickly. The children were crying, people were screaming,” he said.
Hundreds flee Bondi Beach as two gunmen fire 50 shots into crowd – AFP
Closer to the park, the victims hid behind palm trees or cars. Others lay on the ground as sirens blared and the police rushed in. Nearby diners ducked under tables as restaurants went into lockdown, while lifeguards pulled swimmers from the water.
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Lives were saved by acts of extraordinary bravery. Ahmed Al-Ahmed, a 43-year-old father and owner of a fruit shop, tackled one of the gunmen. Footage shows him hiding behind a parked car before grabbing and fighting the gun.
Credit: X
People can be heard shouting, “Get back, get back,” as the second gunman fires. Mr Al-Ahmed was shot twice in the hand and arm and was later taken to surgery.
The nearby hero was identified as Ahmed al Ahmed, a local greengrocer and 43-year-old father of two.
Others sacrificed themselves to protect loved ones. Holocaust survivor, Alex Kleytman, was shot in the back of the head to protect his wife, Larisa. The festival host named Jess took a ball for a three-year-old girl, Gigi, who had been separated from her family amid the chaos.
Naveed Akram, one of the alleged gunmen, on the bridge
About ten minutes after the attack began, the police shot the attackers, who were later photographed lying face down on the bridge among red cartridges, guns, and backpacks. Suspicious objects, including an improvised explosive device, were found nearby. One suspect has been confirmed dead, the other is in custody.
X/@bonusik28 via Reuters
Afterwards, footage shows bodies strewn across the park. Emergency services desperately attempted resuscitation near abandoned prams and picnic benches. Survivors held blood-soaked tallit, ritual prayer clothes, as mothers carried children wrapped in foil blankets and wounded victims were carried on stretchers.
Blue and white tallit soaked in blood
Among the dead was Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi, which had opened just over a year ago as a welcoming community centre. Rabbi Schlanger, a father of five, had spoken earlier this year about “the resilience, the continuity, and the enduring spirit of the Jewish people.”
Emergency services desperately attempted resuscitation near abandoned prams and picnic benches
Kobi Farkash, an Israeli backpacker, described the scene as “a sunny day turned into terror. Boom, and in one second, everything was over. I ran, I heard children crying, people screaming. It reminded me of October 7 at the Nova festival in Israel.”
The massacre left 16 dead, 38 injured, and Sydney’s Jewish community was shaken by one of the deadliest anti-Semitic attacks in Australian history.
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