SYDNEY — Australian leaders promised Monday to immediately overhaul already-tough gun control laws after a mass shooting targeted a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney's Bondi Beach. At least 15 people died in the attack, which has fueled criticism that authorities are not doing enough to combat a surge in antisemitic crimes.
Among the new measures proposed would be a limit on the number of guns someone can own and a review of licenses held over time. Those and other actions would represent a significant update to the landmark national firearms agreement, which virtually banned rapid-fire rifles after a gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania in 1996, galvanizing the country into action.
“The government is prepared to take whatever action is necessary. Included in that is the need for tougher gun laws,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
The violence erupted at the end of a summer day when thousands had flocked to Bondi Beach, an icon of Australia's cultural life. They included hundreds gathered for the Chanukah by the Sea event celebrating the start of the Jewish festival with food, face painting and a petting zoo. Albanese called the massacre an act of antisemitic terrorism that struck at the heart of the nation.
Police shot the two suspected gunmen, a father and son. The 50-year-old father died at the scene. His 24-year-old son remained in a coma in hospital on Monday, Albanese said. Police won’t reveal their names.
At least 38 other people are being treated in hospitals.
Among those is a man who was captured on video appearing to tackle and disarm one apparent assailant, before pointing the man's weapon at him, then setting the gun on the ground.
The man was identified by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke as Ahmed al Ahmed. The 42-year-old fruit shop owner and father of two was shot in the shoulder.
Al Ahmed, an Australian citizen who migrated from Syria in 2006, underwent surgery on Monday, his family said.
Al Ahmed’s parents, who moved to Australia in recent months, said their son had a background in the Syrian security forces.
“My son has always been brave. He helps people. He’s like that,” his mother, Malakeh Hasan al Ahmed, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. through an interpreter.
Authorities had investigated one of the suspected gunman
Albanese confirmed that Australia’s main domestic spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, had investigated the younger suspected gunman for six months in 2019.
The ABC reported that the agency had examined the son’s ties to a Sydney-based Islamic State group cell. Albanese did not describe the associates, but said the agency was interested in them rather than the son.
“He was examined on the basis of being associated with others and the assessment was made that there was no indication of any ongoing threat or threat of him engaging in violence,” Albanese said.
Australia has gun laws meant to prevent mass attacks
The horror at Australia's most popular beach was the deadliest shooting in almost three decades since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre. The removal of rapid-fire rifles has markedly reduced the death tolls from such acts of violence since then.
Albanese's proposals to limit the number of guns someone can own and review licenses were announced after the authorities revealed that the older suspected gunman had held a gun license for a decade and amassed his six guns legally.
Leaders of the federal and state governments on Monday also proposed restricting gun ownership to Australian citizens, a measure that would have excluded the older suspect, who came to Australia in 1998 on a student visa and became a permanent resident after marrying a local woman. Officials wouldn’t confirm what country he had migrated from.
His son, who doesn’t have a gun license, is an Australian-born citizen.
The government leaders also proposed the “additional use of criminal intelligence” in deciding who was eligible for a gun license. That could mean the son’s suspicious associates could disqualify the father from owning a gun.
Chris Minns, premier of New South Wales where Sydney is the state capital, said his state’s gun laws would change, but he could not yet detail how.
“If you’re not a farmer, you’re not involved in agriculture, why do you need these massive weapons that put the public in danger and make life dangerous and difficult for New South Wales Police?” Minns asked.
Dozens being treated in hospitals
Among those hospitalized are two police officers. Those killed included a 10-year-old girl, a rabbi and a Holocaust survivor.
While none of the dead or wounded have been formally named by the authorities, the identities of those killed, who ranged in age from 10 to 87, began to emerge in news reports Monday.
Among them was Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and an organizer of the family Hanukkah event that was targeted, according to Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movement that runs outreach worldwide.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of an Israeli citizen, but gave no further details. French President Emmanuel Macron said a French citizen, identified as Dan Elkayam, was among those killed.
Larisa Kleytman told reporters outside St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney that her husband, Alexander Kleytman, was among the dead. The couple were both Holocaust survivors, according to The Australian newspaper.
Jewish leaders criticize government's response to antisemitism
Over the past year, Australia has been rocked by antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and cars were torched, businesses and homes graffitied and Jews attacked in those cities, where the vast majority of the nation’s Jewish population lives. Of Australia's 28 million people, about 117,000 are Jewish, according to official figures.
The massacre provoked questions about whether Albanese and his government had done enough to curb rising antisemitism. Jewish leaders and the massacre's survivors expressed fear and fury as they questioned why the men hadn't been detected before they opened fire.
“There’s been a heap of inaction,” said Lawrence Stand, a Sydney man who raced to a bar mitzvah celebration in Bondi when the violence erupted to find his 12-year-old daughter.
“I think the federal government has made a number of missteps on antisemitism,” Alex Ryvchin, spokesperson for the Australian Council of Executive Jewry, told reporters gathered on Monday near the site of the shooting. “I think when an attack such as what we saw yesterday takes place, the paramount and fundamental duty of government is the protection of its citizens, so there’s been an immense failure.”
The Australian government has enacted various measures — including appointing a special envoy to combat antisemitism, toughening laws and investing in enhanced security for Jewish schools and synagogues — to counter a surge in antisemitism since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel responded with an offensive in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he warned Australia's leaders months ago about the dangers of failing to take action against antisemitism. He claimed Australia's decision, in line with scores of other countries, to recognize a Palestinian state "pours fuel on the antisemitic fire."
Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the previous attacks and cut diplomatic ties to Tehran. Authorities have not suggested Iran was linked to Sunday's massacre.
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Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand, and McGuirk from Melbourne, Australia.
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