Australia to tighten gun legal guidelines after Bondi Seashore Hanukkah bloodbath

[ad_1] SYDNEY (AP) — Australian leaders promised on Monday to right away overhaul already-tough gun management legal guidelines after a mass shooting targeted a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Seashore. At the very least 15 individuals died within the assault, which has fueled criticism that authorities should not doing sufficient to fight a surge in antisemitic crimes .

Among the many new measures proposed can be a restrict on the variety of weapons somebody can personal and a evaluate of licenses held over time. These and different actions would symbolize a major replace to the landmark nationwide firearms settlement, which nearly banned rapid-fire rifles after a gunman killed 35 individuals in Tasmania in 1996, galvanizing the nation into motion.

“The federal government is ready to take no matter motion is critical. Included in that's the want for more durable gun legal guidelines,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated.

The violence erupted at the end of a summer day when 1000's had flocked to Bondi Beach , an icon of Australia’s cultural life. They included hundreds gathered for the Chanukah by the Sea occasion celebrating the beginning of the Jewish pageant with meals, face portray and a petting zoo. Albanese referred to as the bloodbath an act of antisemitic terrorism that struck on the coronary heart of the nation.

A girl stands at a flower tribute at Bondi Seashore on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, following Sunday’s taking pictures in Sydney, Australia. (AP Photograph/Mark Baker)

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Police shot the 2 suspected gunmen, a father and son. The 50-year-old father died on the scene. His 24-year-old son remained in a coma in hospital on Monday, Albanese stated. Police gained’t reveal their names.

AP AUDIO: Australia to tighten gun legal guidelines after Bondi Seashore Hanukkah bloodbath

AP correspondent Laurence Brooks reviews on proposals for stricter gun legal guidelines in Australia after Sunday’s lethal taking pictures at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Seashore.

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Well being officers stated Tuesday that 25 individuals had been nonetheless being handled in hospitals, 10 of them in important situation. These receiving care embody kids.

Additionally amongst them is a person who was captured on video showing to sort out and disarm one obvious assailant, earlier than pointing the person’s weapon at him, then setting the gun on the bottom.

The person was recognized by Residence Affairs Minister Tony Burke as Ahmed al Ahmed. The 42-year-old fruit store proprietor and father of two was shot within the shoulder.

Al Ahmed, an Australian citizen who migrated from Syria in 2006, underwent surgical procedure on Monday, his household stated. Al Ahmed’s mother and father, who moved to Australia in current months, stated their son had a background within the Syrian safety forces.

“My son has at all times been courageous. He helps individuals. He’s like that,” his mom, Malakeh Hasan al Ahmed, advised Australian Broadcasting Corp. by means of an interpreter.

Authorities had investigated one of many suspected gunman Albanese confirmed that Australia’s important home spy company, the Australian Safety Intelligence Group, had investigated the youthful suspected gunman for six months in 2019.

The ABC reported that the company had examined the son’s ties to a Sydney-based Islamic State group cell. Albanese didn't describe the associates, however stated the company was eager about them moderately than the son.

“He was examined on the idea of being related to others and the evaluation was made that there was no indication of any ongoing risk or risk of him participating in violence,” Albanese stated.

Australia has gun legal guidelines meant to forestall mass assaults The horror at Australia’s hottest seaside was the deadliest shooting in almost three decades because the 1996 Port Arthur bloodbath. The elimination of rapid-fire rifles has markedly decreased the loss of life tolls from such acts of violence since then.

Albanese’s proposals to restrict the variety of weapons somebody can personal and evaluate licenses had been introduced after the authorities revealed that the older suspected gunman had held a gun license for a decade and amassed his six weapons legally.

Leaders of the federal and state governments on Monday additionally proposed limiting gun possession to Australian residents, a measure that will have excluded the older suspect, who got here to Australia in 1998 on a scholar visa and have become a everlasting resident after marrying a neighborhood lady. Officers wouldn’t verify what nation he had migrated from.

His son, who doesn’t have a gun license, is an Australian-born citizen.

The federal government leaders additionally proposed the “further use of prison intelligence” in deciding who was eligible for a gun license. That might imply the son’s suspicious associates may disqualify the daddy from proudly owning a gun.

Chris Minns, premier of New South Wales the place Sydney is the state capital, stated his state’s gun legal guidelines would change, however he couldn't but element how.

“Should you’re not a farmer, you’re not concerned in agriculture, why do you want these large weapons that put the general public at risk and make life harmful and tough for New South Wales Police?” Minns requested.

Dozens being handled in hospitals Amongst these hospitalized are two law enforcement officials. These killed included a 10-year-old lady, a rabbi and a Holocaust survivor.

A person gestures as he lays flowers at a tribute for taking pictures victims outdoors the Bondi Pavilion at Sydney’s Bondi Seashore, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, a day after a taking pictures. (AP Photograph/Mark Baker)

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Whereas not one of the useless or wounded have been formally named by the authorities, the identities of these killed, who ranged in age from 10 to 87, started to emerge in information reviews Monday.

Amongst them was Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and an organizer of the household Hanukkah occasion that was focused, in keeping with Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish motion that runs outreach worldwide.

Israel’s Overseas Ministry confirmed the loss of life of an Israeli citizen, however gave no additional particulars. French President Emmanuel Macron stated a French citizen, recognized as Dan Elkayam, was amongst these killed.

Larisa Kleytman advised reporters outdoors St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney that her husband, Alexander Kleytman, was among the many useless. The couple had been each Holocaust survivors, in keeping with The Australian newspaper.

Jewish leaders criticize authorities’s response to antisemitism Over the previous 12 months, Australia has been rocked by antisemitic assaults in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and automobiles had been torched, companies and houses graffitied and Jews attacked in these cities, the place the overwhelming majority of the nation’s Jewish inhabitants lives. Of Australia’s 28 million individuals, about 117,000 are Jewish, in keeping with official figures.

The bloodbath provoked questions on whether or not Albanese and his authorities had accomplished sufficient to curb rising antisemitism . Jewish leaders and the bloodbath’s survivors expressed worry and fury as they questioned why the lads hadn’t been detected earlier than they opened fireplace.

“There’s been a heap of inaction,” stated Lawrence Stand, a Sydney man who raced to a bar mitzvah celebration in Bondi when the violence erupted to search out his 12-year-old daughter.

“I feel the federal authorities has made a variety of missteps on antisemitism,” Alex Ryvchin, spokesperson for the Australian Council of Government Jewry, advised reporters gathered on Monday close to the location of the taking pictures. “I feel when an assault similar to what we noticed yesterday takes place, the paramount and elementary obligation of presidency is the safety of its residents, so there’s been an immense failure.”

A pair lay flowers at a tribute to taking pictures victims outdoors the Bondi Pavilion at Sydney’s Bondi Seashore, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, a day after a taking pictures. (AP Photograph/Mark Baker)

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The Australian authorities has enacted numerous measures — together with appointing a particular envoy to fight antisemitism, toughening legal guidelines and investing in enhanced safety for Jewish colleges 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 in the past in regards to the risks of failing to take motion in opposition to antisemitism. He claimed Australia’s resolution, according to scores of different international locations, to acknowledge a Palestinian state “pours gasoline on the antisemitic fireplace.”

Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the previous attacks and lower diplomatic ties to Tehran. Authorities haven't advised Iran was linked to Sunday’s bloodbath.

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Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand, and McGuirk from Melbourne, Australia.

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