Members of the Australian Jewish community began to arrive this Monday in tears and with Australian and Israeli flags to Bondi Beach, in Sydney, to pay tribute with flowers and stuffed animals to the victims of the attack the day before, in which they opened fire on the crowd celebrating the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. A 10-year-old girl, a British rabbi and a Holocaust survivor are three of the victims of an attack that has shocked Australia and prompted the country’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, to announce that he will tighten gun permits.
While police investigate the possible connection of the killers with the jihadist terrorist group Islamic State, Australia is also closely monitoring the condition of Ahmed al Ahmed, the Muslim fruit seller who disarmed one of the assailants during the attack and has been hailed as a “hero.” Al Ahmed is recovering from his injuries in hospital.
How did the attack happen?
About a thousand people were celebrating the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah when two men armed with rifles opened fire on the crowd. They killed 15 people. The youngest, a 10-year-old girl; the oldest, 87. Witnesses have described scenes of panic, with hundreds of people trying to take shelter where they could and bodies in the sand. Later images showed medical teams trying to revive numerous victims, while others, already deceased, lay with them.
According to the latest medical report released this Monday by the authorities of New South Wales, where Sydney is located, 27 people remain hospitalized. Six of them are in critical condition and the rest are stable. One of these injured people whose life is in danger is probably a minor, as he is admitted to a children’s hospital in the city.
Who were the authors?
The Australian public broadcaster ABC has identified the perpetrators of the shooting as Sajid Akram, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24, father and son, two men who, according to some information, were of Pakistani origin, although there is no official confirmation of this information. The father died after being shot dead on Sunday, while the son is hospitalized after being shot several times. According to police sources, Sajid Akram had a firearms license and six of them were in his name. He had arrived in Australia in 1998 with a student visa, which he later followed with visas of other types. Their son was born in 2001 in Australia.
What was the motivation for the attack?
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated shortly after the massacre that the attack targeted the “Australian Jewish community” and was motivated by anti-Semitic motives. This Monday, the ABC network also reported that the youngest of the assailants was investigated in 2019 for links to a terrorist cell of the Islamic State. That television assures that both assailants had sworn allegiance to that terrorist organization, although there is no official confirmation of that information at the moment.
Who were the victims?
The youngest of the 15 deceased, Matilda, was 10 years old. According to her aunt Lina, quoted by ABC, she was a “nice and affectionate girl, who liked school and had a lot of friends.” “She was just a happy girl,” the woman said. The minor died at Sydney Children’s Hospital. His little sister, who witnessed the attack but was unharmed, “is in shock“, said their aunt.
Another victim whose identity has been revealed is Eli Schlanger, a 41-year-old rabbi born in the United Kingdom who had recently opened a community center with his father-in-law in Sydney.
Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman also died at the beach celebration, which he had attended with his children and grandchildren. Peter Meagher, another of the identified deceased, was a former police officer who worked as a photographer at the Hanukkah party held on Bondi beach. Among these 15 victims there is at least one French citizen, Dan Elkayam, as confirmed on his account on the social network X by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot.
Who is the “hero” who disarmed one of the assailants?
The Australian media have identified the citizen who managed to disarm one of the murderers: he is, according to this information, a 43-year-old fruit store owner, an Australian Muslim of Syrian origin. In a video of the attack that has gone viral, this man is seen crouching between the cars, before lunging at the younger shooter, grabbing him from behind and struggling with him; Finally he snatches the gun from him and points it at the attacker, who begins to retreat.
According to his cousin, Jozay Alkanji, quoted by Australian and international media, Al Ahmed was shot twice and underwent surgery this Monday in a Sydney hospital, although he will have to undergo other interventions. Both Australian leaders and the president of the United States, Donald Trump, have praised the bravery of this citizen, already hailed as a “hero.”
