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JewishHistoryעברית

Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack

Date
14 December 2025Hebrew date: 24th of Kislev, 5786
Location
Archer Park, Bondi Beach, SydneyAustralia
Then part of
Commonwealth of Australia
Perpetrators
  • Sajid Akram (Individual)
  • Naveed Akram (Individual)
Killed (estimate)
15[1]People killed, not counting the older gunman, who was shot dead by police. The Australian Federal Police stated that 15 people died and that 41 people, including four children, were taken to hospital; two police officers were among the wounded. The AFP commissioner later said 49 were injured. The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, citing the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team statement of facts, gives 15 killed and 40 wounded. The surviving gunman was charged with 15 counts of murder.
Locality

0.034% of the Jewish population of Archer Park, Bondi Beach, Sydney[4]

Country

0.013% of the Jewish population of Commonwealth of Australia (c. 2020)[65]

Worldwide

0.000095% of the worldwide Jewish population (c. 2024)[5]

Category
Terror attack, Massacre
Confidence
High

Summary

On the evening of 14 December 2025 two gunmen opened fire on the Chanukah by the Sea gathering at Archer Park, Bondi Beach, Sydney, which the Combating Terrorism Center states was attended by roughly 1,000 people. The Australian Federal Police said emergency services were called about 6.40 p.m.; officers found two men using long arms to fire into crowds; 15 people were killed; and a 50-year-old gunman was shot dead by police. His 24-year-old son was charged with committing a terrorist act, 15 counts of murder and other offences, including displaying a prohibited terrorist-organisation symbol and placing explosives. The NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team alleged the pair were Sajid Akram and Naveed Akram; the Combating Terrorism Center reports that Islamic State flags were displayed at the scene, that improvised explosives failed to detonate, and that Islamic State later said it had inspired the attack.

Sources

  1. Bondi gunman formally charged by NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team. Australian Federal Police (2025)
  2. AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett: Op Arques media conference statement – 17 December, 2025. Australian Federal Police (2025)
  3. Andrew Zammit and Levi J. West, The Bondi Attack: The Islamic State’s Strategic Shifts and Jihadi Tactics in Australia. Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (2026)
  4. David J. Graham, The Jewish population of Australia: Key findings from the 2021 Census. JCA (2024)

Jewish population (estimates)

  • Worldwide: 15,736,800[5]c. 2024DellaPergola's core Jewish population estimate for 1 January 2024.
  • Commonwealth of Australia: 118,000[65]c. 2020DellaPergola core estimate 1 Jan 2020: 118,000 Jews in Australia. Nearest opened national core figure for 2020s Australian events (2021 census studies exist but the JCA PDF timed out here).
  • Archer Park, Bondi Beach, Sydney: 43,738 – 44,325[4]Estimated Jews in Sydney in the 2021 census, four years before the December 2025 attack. The JCA report gives 43,738 for the Sydney significant urban area and 44,325 for Greater Sydney. The lower figure omits at least 494 Jewish care-home residents in New South Wales.

Sources for population estimates

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