Fifteen killed at a Hanukkah party on Bondi Beach — what will Australia's royal commission find?

The event on Bondi Beach had face painting and a petting zoo. It was called “Chanukah by the Sea” and marked the start of the eight-day Hanukkah festival. At about 6:45 p.m. on Sunday, 14 December 2025, emergency services received the first calls about gunfire, the Associated Press reported.

One witness told AP the shooting went on, off and on, for about five minutes. When it ended, at least 15 people were dead, including a child. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said the victims were aged 10 to 87.

Why does this attack matter beyond Sydney?

According to AP, it was the deadliest shooting in Australia in almost three decades; the 1996 Port Arthur massacre killed 35. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese later called it “the deadliest that has ever occurred on Australian soil”.

It also struck a community already under strain. AP reported that antisemitic incidents in Australia rose more than threefold in the year after 7 October 2023.

Who were the victims?

At least 42 people were being treated in hospital the morning after, several in a critical condition, AP reported. Among the dead were Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and one of the organisers; Alexander Kleytman, a Holocaust survivor, according to his wife; and Dan Elkayam, a French citizen, according to President Emmanuel Macron. Israel said one of its citizens had died but did not name them.

In a video, a bystander, Ahmed al Ahmed, appeared to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen. Minns called him a “genuine hero”.

Who were the gunmen?

They were a father and son. Police shot dead the father, Sajid Akram, 50. His son, Naveed Akram, 24, was wounded and later charged with dozens of offences, including murder and terrorism, NBC News reported in January 2026. At that point he had not entered a plea.

Police found two improvised explosive devices at the scene and made them safe. NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon described them as “rudimentary”, designed to be set off by a wick rather than electronically. Six firearms were found at the property where the father had been staying.

One of the two men was known to security services, AP reported, but Lanyon said authorities had no indication that an attack was being planned.

How did the government respond?

On the day, Albanese called the shooting “an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism”. On 8 January 2026 he described it as “an antisemitic terrorist attack, aimed at Jewish Australians, inspired by ISIS”, and announced a national royal commission, the most powerful form of public inquiry in Australia, able to summon witnesses and demand documents.

It is led by former High Court judge Virginia Bell. According to NBC News, it examines the nature, prevalence and drivers of antisemitism, the circumstances of the shooting, and recommendations on law enforcement, social cohesion and countering extremism. It also takes in a review of Australia's security and law-enforcement agencies that Albanese had launched earlier.

The decision followed weeks of pressure from politicians across the spectrum, some Jewish leaders and prominent sportspeople, who wanted a national inquiry rather than one limited to New South Wales. Albanese had at first suggested a broad inquiry might take too long. “I have listened,” he said. The government also plans to tighten gun laws and to criminalise the words of so-called hate preachers.

What has the inquiry done so far?

Public hearings began on 4 May 2026, Reuters reported. The commission had received more than 5,700 public submissions. An interim report released shortly before made 14 initial recommendations, including more security around Jewish public events and further counter-terrorism and gun reforms.

Bell said the “sharp spike in antisemitism” in Australia “seems clearly linked to events in the Middle East”. A later block of hearings was to cover the circumstances leading up to the attack.

What we do not know

• Naveed Akram's case has not been tried; the facts of who planned what have not been tested in court.
• What the security services knew about the gunman they had on record, and whether anything could have been done, is part of what the commission is examining.
• Which of the interim recommendations have been put into effect was not reported in the sources we opened.

What to watch

The commission's final report is due by 14 December 2026, one year to the day after the attack. Its findings on the security agencies, and on how far Australia's already strict gun laws are tightened, will show whether the response matches the scale of the loss.

Sources

• AP via WCTV: Gunmen kill at least 15 people in attack on Hanukkah celebration on Sydney's Bondi Beach (14 December 2025)
• NBC News: Australia's leader announces a royal commission into antisemitism after Bondi mass shooting (8 January 2026)
• Reuters via Al-Monitor: Australia begins hearings into Bondi Beach attack and rising antisemitism (May 2026)