An attack on a Jewish event at Sydney's Bondi Beach leaves 16 dead and 38 wounded.

BarcelonaSixteen people, including a 10-year-old girl, were killed and 38 others were injured on Sunday at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. One of the shooters was among the dead, and the other was hospitalized in critical condition, police said. The target was participants in the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which begins with the lighting of candles at sunset, where about 1,000 people were gathered. Counterterrorism officers are investigating. Police said the attackers were a 50-year-old man (who was killed by police) and his 24-year-old son, who fired into the crowd from a pedestrian bridge using long guns. One of the attackers was Naveed Akram, a resident of Bonnyrigg, southwest of Sydney. Authorities said one of the suspects was known to intelligence services but was not considered an "imminent threat." Shortly after the attack, several improvised explosive devices were found in a nearby vehicle.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the "targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should have been a day of joy, has turned into an act of antisemitic evil." New South Wales Premier Chris Minns called the attack a "cowardly act of terrifying violence" that "embodies the worst fears of terrorism in Sydney." He expressed solidarity with the Jewish community in Australia.

Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog denounced a "vile terrorist attack against Jews who were lighting the first Hanukkah candles on Bondi Beach." "Our hearts are with them. The heart of the entire nation of Israel beats strongly at this very moment, and we pray for the recovery of the wounded, we pray for them, and we pray for those who lost their lives," he said in an official statement. "We reiterate our call time and again to the Australian government to take action and combat the enormous wave of antisemitism sweeping through Australian society," he added. Among the fatalities are an Israeli citizen, according to Tel Aviv, and Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was born in London.

The heroism of a fruit vendor

Two videos posted on social media and verified by the BBC show two men firing a gun from a small bridge over the beach. The bridge is about 50 meters from the park's children's playground. In another video, also verified, police officers on the bridge can be seen attempting to resuscitate one of the shooters. The hero of the day was a local fruit vendor, Ahmed al-Ahmad, who approached one of the shooters from behind and disarmed him. Police shot the man twice, in the hand and arm, but he is recovering, according to his family. Authorities have acknowledged that their quick response saved many lives.

The attack occurred almost exactly eleven years after a gunman took eighteen people hostage at the Lindt Café in Sydney. Two hostages and the attacker died after a standoff that lasted sixteen hours. Today's attack is now the deadliest in Australia since 1996, when a gunman opened fire indiscriminately on a crowd in Port Arthur, Tasmania, killing 35 people. That attack prompted the adoption of stricter gun control laws.

A deeply rooted community

Australia, the country with the largest proportion of Holocaust survivors outside of Israel, has suffered antisemitic attacks against synagogues, buildings, and vehicles since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2013. Late last year, Australian police created a federal task force. Synagogues in Sydney and Melbourne, where most of Australia's 116,000 Jews live, have been targeted by arson and antisemitic graffiti. Other Jewish institutions, including a childcare center and an Israeli restaurant, have also been attacked. King Charles III, Australia's head of state, US President Donald Trump, and other international leaders have condemned the attack and the rise in antisemitism.