Hanukkah, known as the festival of lights, holds significant importance as one of the most sacred celebrations in the Jewish calendar.

This year, Sydney’s Bondi Beach played host to a ‘Chanukah By The Sea’ festival, a vibrant event organized by the city’s Jewish community.

The festival attracted families from across the area who gathered on the iconic beach, mingling among food stalls and picnic setups from 5 p.m. on December 14. The beach was bustling with tourists and locals enjoying the pleasant 30°C summer day.

However, the festive atmosphere was abruptly shattered by a violent incident involving two gunmen who unleashed a barrage of bullets from long-range firearms.

The joyous celebration quickly descended into chaos, resulting in a tragic outcome. Thus far, 12 fatalities have been reported, with up to 29 individuals injured. Among the injured are two police officers in critical condition and a ten-year-old girl, all of whom have been transported to various hospitals across Sydney.

The beach and streets surrounding Bondi Beach were filled with terrified innocents running for their lives after shots were fired from 6:47pm. 

Witnesses said two men stepped out of a vehicle on Campbell Parade, and over the course of roughly 10 minutes, the two terrorists, one of whom has been identified as Naveed Akram, 24, from Bonnyrigg in Sydney’s south-west, coldly fired around 50 bullets into the gathered crowd. 

Footage taken from a nearby building showed them walking calmly across a white footbridge from Campbell Parade toward the festivities. 

Their firearms appeared to be semi-automatic, with magazines seen scattered on the ground. 

At the scene, victims of the massacre hid behind lampposts, walls, cars; anything they could to shield themselves from the terrorists’ gunfire. 

Families tried finding safety in nearby cafes and restaurants, hiding underneath tables as venues across the immediate area went into lockdown.  

Others who weren’t so lucky were sprawled out in bloody messes across Campbell Parade and Bondi Beach Park. 

One survivor, Arsen Ostrovsky, a Jewish leader who was struck in the head during the terrifying attack, told local media: ‘All of a sudden, it’s absolute chaos. There’s guns, fire everywhere, people ducking. We didn’t know what was happening or where the gunfire was coming from. 

‘I saw blood gushing in front of me. People were hit and falling to the ground. My only concern was: where are my kids, where’s my wife, where’s my family?’

Tim Hamilton was with friends in North Bondi when he thought he heard a car backfiring but ‘more violent than that, like a little bit louder’. 

‘I stood up and looked over and then I just saw people on the beach running really fast away from that area, like the Bondi Pavilion but the north side of it,’ he told Daily Mail.

He added that people were hiding behind the concrete wall and running into the ocean to try and stay clear of the shooters.

Tim said he did not receive an emergency alert on his phone following the incident.

‘When we were walking home, we saw this guy who was up at Speedo Cafe, which is kind of near the North Bondi grass, and he was on the pavement bleeding.

‘That was quite far away from where the shooters were. So I think one of the bullets must have travelled quite far. There were people helping him.’ 

Heather Nolan, was having dinner at the North Bondi RSL ‘when we heard pop pop pop pop pop pop pop’. 

‘It was still light outside, so it seemed odd to have the firecrackers,’ Nolan told the ABC. ‘And then I saw people sprinting from the beach.’

She and her family hid behind a wooden bench before heading into a changing room after a door was opened.

‘We felt … like we were safe in there. But there were people crying, people who were trying to locate loved ones who they weren’t connected with,’ she said. ‘Some people had just fled from the beach and hadn’t taken phones with them and [were] disconnected from their friends and family.’

The gunfire was momentarily halted by the extraordinary bravery of a man who was seen in video obtained by the Daily Mail creeping up behind one of the gunmen via the carpark at the north end of the beach, and then wrestling him to the ground.

The hero then waves a rifle in the man’s face.

The gunman then walks away before the man drops the rifle.

But moments later, the disarmed gunman retreated to the bridge, rejoining his twisted accomplice and picking up another rifle. 

The pair were seen taking cover behind the thick wall before resuming their terrorist rampage. 

Two innocents, including the brave man who brought a shooter to the ground, were seen trying to hide behind a tree. He is later seen clutching his injured arm. 

Drone footage taken in the midst of the terror attack showed one of the terrorists apparently dead on the ground, as his accomplice stays on the bridge carrying out his campaign of hate. 

He is seen ducking and weaving as police close in on him, before he seemingly takes a shot and goes down. 

Later footage showed a swarm of police rushing him and placing him under arrest. 

Since the attack, authorities have raided Akram’s suburban home. His family has owned the property for a year.

Akram’s identity was first reported by the ABC. It is understood that Akram was shot, arrested and remains in custody, where he is being treated by emergency services.

Police are examining a suspected IED bomb at the scene. 

As the country reels from the  attack, many have already condemned the Australian government for not taking the possibility of an attack on Jewish people seriously. 

Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Sharren Heskel, told the Mail they had warned the Australian government multiple times a terror attack ‘was inevitable’.

She said: ‘This terror attack at Bondi Beach is an abomination. Many Jewish Australians are dead or injured. We warmed the Australian government time and time again that a terror attack was inevitable if the government didn’t do more to combat antisemitism and racist hatred towards Jews.

‘Antisemitic protesters shouted “gas the Jews” outside the Sydney Opera House on 9 October 2023, two days after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust – two years later – and the worst massacre on Australian soil in three decades has been committed, aimed at Jews. Is anyone truly surprised?’

Dionne Taylor, PR Manager for AIJAC, told the Mail that amid the sadness there was also ‘anger’ at the Australian government which has repeatedly ignored warnings of rising anti-Semitism with frequent attacks on the Jewish community.

‘I’m completely shocked in disbelief. We have very strong gun laws in Australia, and these attacks don’t happen in Australia.

‘We’re horrified, obviously thinking very much about the people who have been affected. I know some of these people. 

‘We’ve warned the government that for years that there’s increase in anti-Semitic vitriol, and that when this anti-Semitic violence is left unchecked it evolves into exactly what has happened.

‘Now we’ve had so many incidents of graffiti and arson attacks, physical violence and now murder.

‘We have begged our political leaders to stop sharing their concerns through sentiments and messages and give us real, effective action, and we’re waiting for it – but it’s too late.

‘People have been murdered. This is an attack on the Jewish community.’ 

And Daniel, who is visiting Australia from Brazil, said he saw the two shooters on the bridge before about five police cars arrived. 

He said it was hard to believe something like this could happen in Australia.

‘After today, I don’t feel safe anymore.’