Hanukkah events and vigils were held in unison across Australia on Monday night. Follow today’s news live
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Hanukkah events and vigils were held in unison across Australia on Monday night as thousands of mourners laid flowers and left messages to remember the 15 people killed in the massacre at a Jewish festival, Australian Associated Press writes.
In an emotional ceremony at Bondi Beach, Rabbi Yossi Shuchat lit the candles of a five-foot-high menorah, telling those gathered: “Lightness will always persevere, darkness cannot continue where there is light.”
Australians and people around the world are mourning the 15 victims of Sunday’s terrorist attack on Jewish Australians at the start of Hanakuh.
A 10-year-old girl, a local rabbi and a Holocaust survivor have been identified among those killed
There are still 27 people injured in hospitals, including the man who tackled a shooter to disarm him, Ahmed al-Ahmed, who has received over A$1m in donations while recovering in hospital from bullet wounds and has been labelled a national hero
The alleged perpetrators of the attack have been identified as a father-and-son pair who were motivated by an “extreme perversion of Islam”, according to Anthony Albanese.
Lawmakers have pledged to tighten the country’s already significant gun-ownership laws after the mass shooting was carried out with registered firearms. “People can be radicalised over a period of time. Licences should not be in perpetuity,” said Albanese
Amid calls from community leaders to not let the attack on Sunday divide the multicultural country, some Jewish leaders say the attack was foreseen and authorities failed to combat the rise in hate
Australia enacted an antisemitism strategy earlier this year in response to protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, but critics say that has failed, including Israel’s PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, who said he’d warned Albanese that Australia’s support for Palestinian statehood would fuel anti-Semitism
Albanese has denied the antisemitism strategy has failed and vowed on Monday to “do whatever is necessary to stamp out antisemitism”
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Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2025/dec/16/bondi-beach-shooting-live-updates-victims-terror-attack-jewish-festival-hanukah-al-ahmed-hero-gun-control-ntwnfb
Author : Martin Farrer
Publish date : 2025-12-15 19:08:00
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