A terrorist attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 14 during Hanukkah celebrations has been confirmed as the largest terrorist attack in Australia in the last 29 years. The assault killed at least 15 people and injured 27, including a British-born rabbi, a 10-year-old girl, a retired police officer, and a Holocaust survivor.
Suspects identified include Naveed Akram, a 24-year-old, and his father Sajid Akram, who died at the hands of police. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated that Akram had been known to Australian security services since 2019 due to connections with an Islamic State cell.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon confirmed authorities were unaware of the suspects’ identities prior to the attack. Sajid Akram held a firearms license requiring proof of “special need” and owned six weapons, including the high-powered firearm used in the incident.
Albanese announced that the national cabinet would convene on Monday to discuss implementing stricter gun laws, such as limiting the number of guns per person and reviewing license requirements. Australia’s existing gun regulations, tightened after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre but lacking a centralized registration system, are now under scrutiny.
Eyewitness accounts report that a bystander disarmed one of the attackers, resulting in one suspect being killed and another wounded and taken into custody. The attack marks the largest terrorist incident in Australia since the Port Arthur shooting in 1996.
