The dead, who were ages 10 to 87, include French, Slovak and Israeli citizens, officials said.

A Holocaust survivor, a 10-year-old and a Chabad rabbi were among the 15 people killed when two gunmen opened fire on a Hanukkah event at Australia’s Bondi Beach on Sunday.

Hundreds of people had gathered to mark the first day of the Jewish festival before the attackers struck at the event in Sydney.

The dead, who were ages 10 to 87, include French, Slovak and Israeli citizens, officials have said. At least 40 people were also wounded.

Police have not publicly identified any of the victims, but the names of some have been shared by relatives and friends.

Here are some of the victims identified so far:

Matilda Britvan

Ten-year-old Matilda Britvan was identified as one of those killed in the attack. She was identified by her aunt, Lina Chernykh.

Chernykh told Australia’s Channel 9 that her niece was “a happy kid” and that their heartbroken family would never recover from their loss.

“Everywhere she goes, she was like a sun,” Chernykh said.

Channel 9 reported that Matilda and her 6-year-old sister, Summer, were enjoying the celebrations at the beach Sunday when gunshots rang out. Matilda was fatally shot in front of her sister, according to the outlet.

Alex Kleytman

Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman, 87, was identified as one of the victims of Sunday’s attack.

His wife, Larisa Kleytman, also a Holocaust survivor, confirmed his death to The Australian newspaper, saying she heard loud “boom” sounds before she saw him fall to the ground.

“He came on Bondi Beach to celebrate Hanukkah; for us it was always a very, very good celebration, for many, many years,” Larisa Kleytman told the outlet.

The couple emigrated from Ukraine and had been married for 57 years, living in Matraville in Sydney’s southeast, The Australian reported.

They recounted their experiences to the charity JewishCare in 2023, with Alex describing “dreadful conditions in Siberia where he, along with his mother and younger brother, struggled for survival,” the organization’s annual report said, according to The Australian.

Kleytman was a retired civil engineer, it said.

Dan Elkayam

French citizen Dan Elkayam was identified as one of the victims by Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s minister for Europe and foreign affairs.

“We mourn with his family and loved ones, with the grieving Jewish community and the Australian people,” Barrot said in a statement on X.

French President Emmanuel Macron also shared a statement about Elkayam’s death on X: “I am thinking of his family and loved ones and express to them the full solidarity of the nation,” Macron wrote.

A Sydney-based soccer club, Rockdale Ilinden FC, said in a statement on Facebook that Elkayam, 27, was a “Frenchman of Jewish faith” and “an extremely talented midfield player” with a passion for soccer. The club said he lived in eastern Sydney with his girlfriend and “loved the Australian way of life.”

According to a LinkedIn page that NBC News has verified as belonging to Elkayam, he was an IT systems administrator who recently moved from France to Australia “to explore new opportunities.” He was an employee of NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.

Eli Schlanger

A cousin of Eli Schlanger, a Chabad rabbi who helped organize the Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach, confirmed his death.

“He was truly an incredible guy,” Zalman Lewis, his cousin, said in a post on Instagram that he shared with a picture of Schlanger.

Despite the tragedy, Lewis wrote, the positive light of Hanukkah will triumph against the darkness. “I knew Eli well enough to know he’d concur,” he said, encouraging the Jewish community to pray and light Hanukkah candles.

On a Facebook page that NBC News has linked to Schlanger, he promoted the “Chanukah by the Sea at Bondi Beach” event last week. The page also says Schlanger hails from London.

Chabad of Rural and Regional Australia, a nonprofit organization that supports people living in areas that have little Jewish presence, also identified Schlanger among the deceased Sunday, saying: “Our hearts are shattered.”

Motti Seligson, a fellow rabbi and friend of Schlanger, told NBC News that Schlanger is survived by his wife and five children — all of whom were at the Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach when the shooting occurred.

One of his children is barely 2 months old, Seligson said.

Schlanger also has several siblings in Australia, according to Seligson, who said he has spoken to some of them since the shooting.

“They’re all obviously numb and in shock,” he said.

“Schlanger served his community and really personified righteousness and service and dedication,” Seligson said.

Yaakov Levitan

Another Chabad rabbi reported killed in the attack was Yaakov Levitan.

His death was confirmed to The Guardian Australia by Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, a senior member of Sydney Beth Din, a rabbinic court.

The Chabad organization said in post on Instagram confirming his death that Levitan was the secretary of Sydney Beth Din and was deeply involved in Chabad operations in Sydney.

Peter Meagher

Peter “Marzo” Meagher was identified as having been killed in the attack by his Sydney-based rugby club, Randwick Rugby.

In a statement shared on its website, the club’s general manager, Mark Harrison, said Meagher was an “absolute legend” at the club and had served as a manager, a referee and a volunteer.

Harrison said that Meagher, a former police officer, was working as a freelance photographer at the Hanukkah event at Bondi and that “for him it was simply a catastrophic case of being in the wrong place and at the wrong time.”

Tibor Weitzen

The granddaughter of Tibor Weitzen, 78, identified him as having been killed in the attack.

Leor Amzalak told Australia’s ABC News that Weitzen was “truly the best you could ask for.”

“He was so proud of us … and loved us more than life itself,” Amzalak told the outlet, which reported that Weitzen immigrated to Australia from Israel in 1988. “He only saw the best in people and will be dearly missed,” Amzalak said.

Reuven Morrison

Reuven Morrison’s daughter told CBS News that her father was killed while attempting to stop one of the two gunmen.

Sheina Gutnick said Morrison, 62, fled the Soviet Union to escape antisemitic persecution five decades ago and came to Australia because he thought it would be safe.

“From my sources and understanding, he had jumped up the second the shooting started. He managed to throw bricks at the terrorist,” Gutnick told CBS News.

She said her father was “shot dead for being Jewish.”

Boris and Sofia Gurman

Boris and Sofia Gurman have been confirmed killed in the attack after dramatic footage showed them attempting to stop and disarm one of the gunmen.

The dashcam video, which was shared on social media Tuesday and verified by NBC News, shows a man and a woman wrestling with and ultimately disarming a man on the side of the road.

Separate drone footage showed the couple subsequently lying motionless beside each other near to the pedestrian bridge where the suspects were shot by police.

The couple were identified by their family. Boris Gurman was a 69-year-old retired mechanic, according to ABC Australia, the national broadcaster. His wife, Sofia Gurman, was a 61-year-old Australia Post employee.

“They were people of deep kindness, quiet strength and unwavering care for others,” the family said in a statement to ABC. “This act of bravery and selflessness reflects exactly who they were: people who instinctively chose to help, even at great personal risk.”

Marika Pogany

Slovak citizen Marika Pogany has been identified among those killed by several of her friends quoted by Australia’s Channel 7.

Former Slovakian President Zuzana Čaputová said in a statement on Facebook that Pogany was a close friend, identifying her by her first name only.

The country’s current leader, Peter Pellegrini, also said Monday on X that a Slovak woman named Marika was killed in the attack, extending his “heartfelt and sincere condolences” to her family.

Pellegrini condemned the “brutal, deadly attack on innocent people” as he expressed solidarity with Australia, which he said was “plunged into grief and shock.”

 

 

Alleged Bondi gunman charged with 15 murders as funerals of victims begin

• Summary

• Man charged with 59 offences including murder, terror
• State government plans wide-ranging reforms after attacks
• Funerals for Rabbi Schlanger held in Bondi synagogue
• Police probe shooters’ ties to Islamic State, interview expected
• Family of injured police officer say he lost an eye, acted with courage

SYDNEY, Dec 17 (Reuters) – A man who allegedly opened fire on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach has been charged with 59 offences, including murder and terrorism, police said on Wednesday.

The alleged father-and-son perpetrators opened fire on the celebration at Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing 15 in an attack that shook the nation and intensified fears of rising antisemitism and violent extremism.

Funerals of the Jewish victims of the attack began on Wednesday, amid anger over how the gunmen – one of whom was briefly investigated for links to extremists – were allowed access to powerful firearms.

Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene, while his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram emerged from a coma on Tuesday afternoon after also being shot by police.

New South Wales Police said on Wednesday that a man had been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of wounding with attempt to murder, as well as a terror offence and other charges.

“Police will allege in court the man engaged in conduct that caused death, serious injury and endangered life to advance a religious cause and cause fear in the community,” it said in a statement.

“Early indications point to a terrorist attack inspired by ISIS, a listed terrorist organisation in Australia.”

A court filing on Wednesday named Naveed Akram, who remains in a Sydney hospital under heavy police guard, as the man charged.

He will appear via video link before a local court on Monday morning.

The father and son had travelled to the southern Philippines, a region long plagued by Islamist militancy, weeks before the shooting that Australian police said appeared to be inspired by Islamic State.

U.S. President Donald Trump told a Hanukkah event at the White House late on Tuesday that he was thinking of the victims of the “horrific and antisemitic terrorist attack”.

“We join in mourning all of those who were killed, and we’re praying for the swift recovery of the wounded,” he said.

STATE GOVERNMENT TO PASS GUN REFORMS

The leader of the Australian state of New South Wales said on Wednesday he will recall parliament next week to pass wide-ranging reforms of gun and protest laws, days after the country’s deadliest mass shooting in three decades.

Chris Minns, the Premier of New South Wales state where the attack took place, told a news conference parliament would return on December 22 to hear “urgent” reforms, including capping the number of firearms allowed by a single person and making certain types of shotguns harder to access.

The state government will also look at reforms making it harder to hold large street protests after terror events, in order to prevent further tensions.

“We’ve got a monumental task in front of us. It’s huge,” he said.

“It’s a huge responsibility to pull the community together. I think we need a summer of calm and togetherness, not division.”

FUNERALS FOR JEWISH VICTIMS BEGIN

 

 

A funeral for Rabbi Eli Schlanger, an assistant rabbi at Chabad Bondi Synagogue and a father of five, was held on Wednesday.

He was known for his work for Sydney’s Jewish community through Chabad, a global organization fostering Jewish identity and connection. Schlanger would travel to prisons and meet with Jewish people living in Sydney’s public housing communities, Jewish leader Alex Ryvchin said on Monday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is facing criticism that his centre-left government did not do enough to prevent the spread of antisemitism in Australia during the two-year Israel-Gaza war.

“We will work with the Jewish community, we want to stamp out and eradicate antisemitism from our society,” Albanese told reporters.

The government and intelligence services are also under pressure to explain why Sajid Akram was allowed to legally acquire the high-powered rifles and shotguns used in the attack. The government has already promised sweeping reforms to gun laws.

Naveed Akram, meanwhile, was briefly investigated by Australia’s domestic intelligence agency in 2019 over alleged links to Islamic State, but there was no evidence at the time he posed a threat, Albanese said.

MAN PRAISED AS HERO TO UNDERGO SURGERY

Albanese said Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, the man who tackled one of the shooters to disarm his rifle and suffered gunshot wounds, was due to undergo surgery on Wednesday.

Al-Ahmed’s uncle, Mohammed al-Ahmed in Syria, said his nephew left his hometown in Syria’s northwest province of Idlib nearly 20 years ago to seek work in Australia.

“We learned through social media. I called his father and he told me that it was Ahmed. Ahmed is a hero, we’re proud of him. Syria in general is proud of him,” the uncle told Reuters.

The family of 22-year-old police officer Jack Hibbert, who was shot twice on Sunday and had been on the force for just four months, said in a statement on Wednesday he had lost vision in one eye and faced a “long and challenging recovery” ahead.

“In the face of a violent and tragic incident, he responded with courage, instinct, and selflessness, continuing to protect and help others whilst injured, until he was physically no longer able to,” the family said.

New South Wales Premier Minns said 23 people were still in several Sydney hospitals.

HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR AMONG VICTIMS

Other shooting victims included a Holocaust survivor, a husband and wife who first approached the gunmen before they started firing, and a 10-year-old girl named Matilda, according to interviews, officials and media reports.

Matilda’s father told a Bondi vigil on Tuesday night he did not want his daughter’s legacy to be forgotten.

“We came here from Ukraine … and I thought that Matilda is the most Australian name that can ever exist. So just remember the name, remember her,” local media reported him as saying.

In Bondi on Wednesday, swimmers gathered on Sydney’s most popular beach and held a minute’s silence. A New Year’s Eve party due to be held on the beach was cancelled by organisers.

“This week has obviously been very profound, and this morning, I definitely feel a sense of the community getting together, and a sense of everyone sitting together,” Archie Kalaf, a 24-year-old Bondi man, told Reuters. “Everyone’s grieving, everyone’s understanding and processing it in their own way.”

Reporting by Scott Murdoch, Alasdair Pal and Renju Jose in Sydney; Additional reporting by Christine Chen and Jeff Mason; Editing by Howard Goller, Lincoln Feast and Saad Sayeed

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