Armed police work at the scene of a shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 14, 2025.
David Gray | AFP | Getty Images
A gunman opened fire during a Jewish holiday event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing 10 people and wounding around 12 others, Australian authorities said.
New South Wales Police said two people were in custody, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said at least one of the two gunmen was among the dead.
A NSW Ambulance spokesperson said about 12 people were taken to local hospitals after the shooting.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the incident a “shocking and tragic event”, adding: “Paramedics are working at the scene to save lives.”
“I saw at least 10 people on the ground, blood everywhere,” local resident Harry Wilson, 30, who witnessed the shooting, told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Jews who went to the beach to light the first candles of the Hanukkah holiday were attacked by “despicable terrorists.”
Australia has seen a spate of anti-Semitic attacks on synagogues, buildings and cars since Israel began its war in Gaza in October 2023.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was appalled by the shooting. “These are the consequences of the rampant anti-Semitism on the streets of Australia over the past two years, and the anti-Semitic and inflammatory call to ‘globalize the intifada’ that has come true today.”
One of the most famous beaches in the world, Bondi is usually crowded with locals and tourists, especially on warm weekend nights.
“If we were being deliberately targeted like this, it’s on a scale that none of us could have imagined. It’s horrifying,” Australian Jewish Executive Council co-chief executive Alex Rivchin told Sky News, adding that a media adviser was injured in the attack.
A video circulating on X showed people on the beach and a nearby park scattering as multiple gunshots and police sirens could be heard.
A civilian leaves the scene of a mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia on December 14, 2025, with a child wrapped in an emergency blanket.
George Chan | Getty Images News | Getty Images
One video showed a man in a black shirt firing a large weapon, and a man in a white T-shirt tackling him and taking the weapon away. Another man was also seen firing a gun from the footbridge.
Another video showed two men being pinned to the ground by uniformed police officers on a small pedestrian bridge. Officers were also seen trying to resuscitate one of the men. Reuters could not immediately confirm the footage.
The attack occurred almost exactly 11 years after a lone gunman took 18 people hostage at Sydney’s Lindt Cafe. The two hostages and the gunman died after a 16-hour standoff.
Australian opposition Liberal Party leader Susan Lee said the loss of life in the incident was “significant”.
“Australians are deeply saddened tonight as hateful violence struck at the heart of the iconic Australian community of Bondi that we all know and love,” she said.
