{"id":30156,"date":"2025-12-15T04:30:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T09:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=30156"},"modified":"2025-12-15T04:30:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T09:30:27","slug":"15-civilians-confirmed-dead-in-shooting-attack-at-bondi-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2025\/12\/15\/15-civilians-confirmed-dead-in-shooting-attack-at-bondi-beach\/","title":{"rendered":"15 civilians confirmed dead in shooting attack at Bondi beach"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At least 15 civilians have been confirmed dead in a shooting attack at Bondi beach.<\/b><\/p>\n

More than 1,000 people were at an event celebrating the first day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah at Archer Park, Bondi Beach, on Sunday 14 December, New South Wales police said.<\/p>\n

Officers were called to the scene at about 6.47pm (7.47am UK time), as they responded to reports of shots being fired.<\/p>\n

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said two individuals fired on a “crowded group of families” at the park in a “cowardly act of terrifying violence”.<\/p>\n

Officers later declared\u00a0the shooting<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0a terrorist attack.<\/p>\n

One of the attackers, a 50-year-old man, was killed along with 15 innocent people, aged between 10 and 87 years old.<\/p>\n

Police confirmed the gunmen were a father and son.\u00a0The men had reportedly\u00a0pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. They have been named in local media as\u00a0Sajid Akram, 50, and his son Naveed, 24.<\/a><\/p>\n

Sajid Akram died at the scene and Naveed Akram, is in a critical condition, police said.<\/p>\n

Sajid and Naveed Akram lived in Bonnyrigg, New South Wales, about an hour’s drive inland from Bondi Beach until recently when they moved to an Airbnb in Campsie, closer to the scene of the attack.<\/p>\n

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A ‘‘hero’ who wrestled a gun from one Bondi shooter has been named as Ahmed al Ahmed<\/a> a 43-year-old fruit shop owner, who was shot twice in the incident. He then aimed the weapon at the attacker, who then made his way towards his accomplice on a bridge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Who are the Bondi shooting victims?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Authorities have confirmed that two rabbis, a Holocaust survivor and a 10-year-old girl were among the victims.<\/p>\n

This is what we know about those identified so far:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Matilda, 10<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Authorities confirmed that a 10-year-old girl, named by her family to local media as Matilda, was among the dead.<\/p>\n

Irina Goodhew, who organised a fundraiser for the girl’s mother and said she was the child’s former teacher, wrote: “I knew her as a bright, joyful, and spirited child who brought light to everyone around her.’<\/p>\n

The Harmony Russian School of Sydney also confirmed that she was one of its students.<\/p>\n

“We are deeply saddened to share the news that a former student of our school has passed away in the hospital due to injuries sustained from a gunshot,” the school wrote on Facebook.<\/p>\n

“Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences go out to her family, friends, and everyone affected by this tragic event \u2026 Her memory will remain in our hearts, and we honor her life and the time she spent as part of our school family.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile her aunt spoke to ABC news and said that Matilda’s sister, who was with her when she was shot, was struggling to come to terms with the loss.<\/p>\n

“They were like twins \u2014 they’ve never been separated,” she told the ABC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Rabbi Eli Schlanger<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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\"A<\/picture><\/span>Eli Schlanger was known as the Bondi rabbi (Image: Supplied)<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Known as the “Bondi Rabbi”, Eli Schlanger, 41, was one of the key organisers of Sunday’s event. He was head of the local Chabad mission, an international Hasidic Jewish organisation based in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

The death of the British-born father of five was confirmed by his cousin, Rabbi Zalman Lewis.<\/p>\n

“My dear cousin, Rabbi Eli Schlanger @bondirabbi was murdered in today’s terrorist attack in Sydney,” Zalman wrote on Instagram. “He leaves behind his wife & young children, as well as my uncle & aunt & siblings \u2026 He was truly an incredible guy”.<\/p>\n

In a post on its website, Chabad said Schlanger’s youngest child was just two months old.<\/p>\n

“He was the most godly, humane, kind, gracious human being I think I’ve ever met,” Alex Ryvchin of the Executive Council of Australia Jewry, told reporters at Bondi on Monday morning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Dan Elkayam<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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The death of French national Dan Elkayam was confirmed by Frances’s Foreign Minister Jean-No\u00ebl Barrot.<\/p>\n

“It’s with immense sadness that we have learnt that our compatriot Dan Elkayam was among the victims of the terrorist attack that hit Jewish families gathered on the beach at Bondi in Sydney,” he wrote on social media. “We mourn with his family and loved ones, with the Jewish community and the Australian people.”<\/p>\n

According to his LinkedIn profile, Elkayam worked as an IT analyst for NBCUniversal and had moved to Australia last year.<\/p>\n

He was also a keen footballer, and “an integral member” of our premier league squad, the Rockdale Ilindin Football Club in west Sydney wrote on its Facebook page.<\/p>\n

He was “an extremely talented and popular figure amongst team mates. Our deepest and sincerest condolances to Dan’s family, friends and all that knew him. He will be missed,” the club wrote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Alexander Kleytman<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Alexander Kleytman was a holocaust survivor who came to Australia from Ukraine.<\/p>\n

“I have no husband. I don’t know where is his body. Nobody can give me any answer,” his wife Larisa Kleytman told reporters outside a Sydney hospital late on Sunday.<\/p>\n

“We were standing and suddenly came the ‘boom boom’, and everybody fell down. At this moment he was behind me and at one moment he decided to go close to me. He pushed his body up because he wanted to stay near me,” she told the Australian.<\/p>\n

Chabad wrote on X that Alexander “died shielding her from the gunman’s bullets. In addition to his wife, he leaves behind two children and 11 grandchildren.”<\/p>\n

The couple shared some of their life story with Jewish Care in 2023.<\/p>\n

“As children, both Larisa and Alexander faced the unspeakable terror of the Holocaust,” the health organisation wrote in its annual report.<\/p>\n

“Alex’s memories are particularly harrowing; recalling the dreadful conditions in Siberia where he, along with his mother and younger brother, struggled for survival.”<\/p>\n

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Peter Meagher<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Former police officer Peter Meagher was working as a freelance photographer at the Hanukkah event when he was killed, his rugby club confirmed.<\/p>\n

“For him it was simply a catastrophic case of being in the wrong place and at the wrong time,” Mark Harrison, the general manager of Randwick Rugby Club, wrote on its website.<\/p>\n

“‘Marzo, as he was universally known, was a much loved figure and absolute legend in our club, with decades of voluntary involvement, he was one of the heart and soul figures of Randwick Rugby.”<\/p>\n

The club said he had spent almost four decades in the NSW Police Force where he was “hugely respected by colleagues”.<\/p>\n

“The tragic irony is that he spent so long in the dangerous front line as a Police Officer and was struck down in retirement while taking photos in his passion role is really hard to comprehend,” the club said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Reuven Morrison<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Reuven Morrison migrated to Australia from the former Soviet Union in the 1970s as a teenager, according to an interview he gave to the ABC exactly a year ago.<\/p>\n

“We came here with the view that Australia is the safest country in the world and the Jews would not be faced with such anti-Semitism in the future, where we can bring up our kids in a safe environment,” he told the national broadcaster.<\/p>\n

Confirming his death, Chabad said that he was a longtime resident of Melbourne, but that he “discovered his Jewish identity in Sydney”.<\/p>\n

“A successful businessman whose main goal was to give away his earnings to charities dear to his heart, notably Chabad of Bondi,” the organisation wrote on X.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Rabbi Yaakov Levitan<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Rabbi Yaakov Levitan’s death was confirmed by Chabad, who described him as a “popular coordinator” of its activities in Sydney.<\/p>\n

He also served as secretary of the Sydney Beth Din \u2013 a rabbinical court \u2013 and worked at the BINA Center, which describes itself as a centre of Jewish learning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Tibor Weitzen<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Tibor Weitzen was at the event with his wife and grandchildren when he was killed trying to shield a family friend, Chabad said.<\/p>\n

The 78-year-old was a “beloved” member of the Bondi Chabad Synagogue, according to the organisation.<\/p>\n

Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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