Credit: Instagram/mian.ores - X
Families were tucking into jelly-filled doughnuts and children clutched balloons when thefirst gunshots pierced the sound of musicin the park behind Bondi Beach.
Dressed in black and carrying long-arm 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 sands and clear waters suddenly emptied. Thousands abandoned towels, surfboards, and beach bags, fleeing in shorts and swimwear.
At the festival, which organisers had hoped would "fill Bondi with joy and light," the attackers fired more than 50 shots in less than ten minutes. Where moments earlier families queued for ice cream, witnesses later described "bodies all over the floor."
Chilling footage shows the assailants walking calmly over a white footbridge from Campbell Parade toward 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
"All of a sudden, it's absolute chaos," said Arsen Ostrovsky, a Jewish leader who was struck in the head. "There's guns, fire everywhere, people ducking. We didn't know where the gunfire was coming from.
"I saw blood gushing in front of me, people falling to the ground. My only concern was: 'Where are my kids? Where's my wife?' I saw children falling to the floor."
On the beach, witnesses could only watch and run. Mike Ortiz, 30, filmed crowds sprinting toward him. "It happened so fast. Children were crying, people screaming," he said.
Closer to the park, victims hid behind palm trees or cars. Others lay bloodied on the ground as sirens wailed and police raced in. Nearby diners ducked under tables as restaurants went into lockdown, while lifeguards pulled swimmers from the water.
Lives were saved by acts of extraordinary bravery. Ahmed Al-Ahmed, a 43-year-old father and fruit shop owner, tackled one of the gunmen. Footageshows him hiding behind a parked carbefore lunging and wrestling away the firearm.
People can be heard shouting, "Get back, get back," as the second gunman ducks shots. Mr Al-Ahmed was shot twice in the arm and hand and was later taken for surgery.
Others sacrificed themselves to protect loved ones. Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman was shot in the back of the headshielding his wife, Larisa. A festival-goer named Jess took a bullet for a three-year-old girl, Gigi, who had been separated from her family amid the chaos.
Around ten minutes after the attack began, police shot the assailants, who were later photographed lying face down on the bridge amid red cartridges, guns, and backpacks. Suspicious items, including an improvised explosive device, were found nearby. One suspect was confirmed dead, the other is in custody.
X/@bonusik28 via Reuters
In the aftermath, footage shows bodies strewn across the park. Emergency services desperately attempted resuscitation beside abandoned prams and picnic benches. Survivors held up blood-soaked tallit, ritual prayer garments, as mothers carried children wrapped in foil blankets and injured victims were rushed away on stretchers.
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, continuity, and enduring spirit of the Jewish people."
Kobi Farkash, an Israeli backpacker, described the scene as "a sunny day turned to terror. Boom, and in one second, everything is gone. I ran, hearing 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 reeling from one of the deadliest antisemitic attacks in Australian history.
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