Anti-Semitic massacre at Bondi Beach: father and son among the killers. Fifteen dead during the Hanukkah holiday.

A festive afternoon turned into a nightmare. The celebration of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, ended in bloodshed at Bondi Beach, Sydney's iconic beach, the site of one of the worst anti-Semitic attacks ever outside Israel. The outcome is dramatic: 15 dead and at least 29 injured, some in very serious conditions. Among the victims are a rabbi, a 12-year-old girl, and a Holocaust survivor.

According to what was confirmed by the Australian police, those who opened fire on the crowd were two armed men, father and sonA fifty-year-old man was killed during the police intervention, and his twenty-four-year-old son is currently hospitalized under close surveillance. "We can rule out the presence of other perpetrators of the attack," said the New South Wales Police Commissioner. Mal Lanyon, specifying that the death toll has been revised to fifteen, and not sixteen as initially communicated.

The attack: over fifty shots fired against families and children

The massacre took place late Sunday afternoon. The celebration, entitled “Chanukah by the Sea”, began at 17 p.m. in Archer Park, a grassy area near the beach. The poster promised live entertainment, music, games, and fun for all ages. "Bring your friends, bring your family. Let's fill Bondi with joy and light," the flyers read.

The celebration was attended by about a thousand people, while the beach, thanks to the summer climate, was still crowded with swimmers. At 6:47 PM, the first call to the emergency numbers: a shot, then another, then dozens of shots in rapid succession. According to reconstructions, they were fired at least fifty rifle shots.

The two attackers opened fire from an elevated point, the Campbell Parade pedestrian bridge, overlooking the park: an ideal position to target the crowd. Dressed in black, they fired repeatedly, reloading their weapons several times. One of the two then climbed down from the bridge and continued to fire, a move that would prove fatal.

The courage of a passerby and the intervention of the police

Amidst the chaos and terror, the figure of emerges Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43 years old, a passerby who found the courage to intervene. Using parked cars as cover, he approached the attacker and killed him. unarmed with bare hands, snatching the rifle from him.

"A true hero," declared the Premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns – many people are alive thanks to him." The gesture, however, did not go without consequences: the accomplice, still armed, shot at Ahmed, wounding him in the arm.

Meanwhile, the police had surrounded the area. A drone captured the final stages of the operation: one of the terrorists was lying unconscious on the ground, while the other continued to fire from one side of the bridge to the other, seeking cover behind the parapets. He was shot by the officers and fell to the ground. The attack was over.

I Bondi Beach lifeguards They contributed to the rescue effort, carrying the injured on surfboards to the ambulances. As the sun set, all that remained on the beach were the wailing sirens, the cries of survivors, and the dismay of a community deeply affected.

The victims and the investigations

The dead include the Sydney rabbi Eli SchlangerTwo police officers are in very serious condition. Authorities also found rudimentary explosive devices inside a vehicle in the area of ​​the attack, raising fears that the massacre could take on even more devastating proportions.

One of the attackers has been identified as Naveed Akram, 24 years oldAccording to informed sources, he is believed to be of Pakistani origin, but authorities have not officially confirmed it. His home in southwestern Sydney was searched and a man was taken away in handcuffs. Two women were also arrested. "One of the individuals was known to us, but did not pose an immediate threat," Canberra intelligence reported.

The Australian Prime Minister Anthony albanese He spoke of "an act of evil anti-Semitism that struck the heart of the nation," calling the violence unleashed at Bondi Beach "incomprehensible."

International reactions and diplomatic tensions

The Australian Jewish community has received solidarity from major world leaders, as well as from the Australian Muslim community and the Palestinian Authority. Israel, however, has pointed the finger at Canberra. The Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu He accused the Australian government of "adding fuel to the fire of anti-Semitism," including in reference to the recognition of Palestinian statehood. "Anti-Semitism spreads when leaders remain silent," he said.

Meanwhile, the alarm is growing in Europe too. In Italy, the Department of Public Security has issued a circular urging everyone to maintain maximum attention on Jewish targets and sensitive locations, ahead of the elections for representatives of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities. Security measures will remain heightened in the coming days.