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Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - This frame grab taken from video footage provided by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on December 20, 2025 via AFPTV shows Australian surf lifesavers standing in silence along Bondi Beach in Sydney in honour of the victims of the December 14 Bondi Beach shooting attack. — AFP pic
SYDNEY, Dec 21 — Australians will light candles today in silent tribute to the 15 Bondi Beach shooting victims, marking one week since gunmen fired into Jewish crowds on one of the nation’s darkest days.
A father and son are accused of targeting the family-thronged Hanukkah festival at Bondi Beach, striking at a tourist hotspot emblematic of Australia’s ocean-loving lifestyle.
The duo drew inspiration from jihadist group Islamic State, authorities said as they unravelled one of the nation’s deadliest mass shootings.
Australians will observe a minute’s silence at 6:47 pm (0747 GMT), exactly one week after the first reports of gunfire.
In a nationwide gesture of “light over darkness”, millions are expected to fill their windows with flickering candles.
“Sixty seconds carved out from the noise of daily life, dedicated to 15 Australians who should be with us today,” said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who will join commemorations at Bondi Beach.
“It will be a moment of pause to reflect and affirm that hatred and violence will never define us as Australians.”
Summer winds buffeted flags dipped to half-mast across the country, including over the famed Sydney Harbour Bridge.
A small seaplane buzzed over Bondi Beach trailing a message of love for “our Jewish community”.
Federal and state authorities are in talks with Jewish community leaders about establishing a permanent memorial at Bondi Beach, as well as holding a national day of mourning in the new year
Grappling with a gunman
Grieving families are demanding to know how the gunmen slipped through the cracks.
One of the alleged attackers was flagged by Australia’s intelligence agency in 2019 -- but slipped off the radar as he posed no imminent threat.
Albanese launched a review into the nation’s law enforcement agencies ahead of today’s memorial.
“The ISIS-inspired atrocity last Sunday reinforces the rapidly changing security environment in our nation,” he said.
“Our security agencies must be in the best position to respond.”
Many people have already marked the attack with unofficial acts of remembrance.
Hundreds of swimmers and surfers bobbed in a floating circle off Bondi Beach on Friday, splashing the water and roaring with emotion.
On Saturday, surf lifesavers lined the shore and fell silent in memory of the dead.
Gunman Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the December 14 assault. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.
His 24-year-old son Naveed, an Australian-born citizen who remains in hospital under police guard, has been charged with terrorism and 15 murders.
The mass shooting has sparked national soul-searching about antisemitism, anger over the failure to shield Jewish Australians from harm, and promises to stiffen laws and penalties against hatred, extremists, and gun ownership.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said he would open an independent Royal Commission investigation into the shooting.
Asked today if the attack could have been avoided, he said: “I don’t know. I mean, it’s something that I stay up at night wondering about and worrying about.”
The Australian government has announced a suite of national measures to crack down on gun ownership and hate speech, promising stricter federal laws and harsher penalties.
The state of New South Wales says it plans to ban “hateful” slogans including “Globalise the Intifada” and symbols such as Islamic State group flags.
‘Ray of sunshine’
Many Jewish Australians have criticised the authorities for not doing more to protect them before the attack.
“Do we feel safe? You know, the answer is ‘not really’, to be honest,” rabbi Yossi Friedman told AFP at a floral memorial for the victims.
Families have been holding funerals for their loved ones. One was for 10-year-old Matilda, the youngest of those killed, who was described at the service as “our little ray of sunshine”.
Alongside the killing, stories have emerged of courage and selflessness: unarmed beachgoers grappling with the heavily-armed assailants, shielding relatives, friends and total strangers, or braving the bullets to treat the wounded.
Shopkeeper Ahmed al Ahmed, a father of two who moved to Australia from Syria almost a decade ago, has been praised after a video shared online showed him ducking between cars and then wresting a gun from one of the attackers.
He was shot several times in the shoulder.
A counter-terrorism task force of police and intelligence services is now poring over the suspects’ movements and contacts, including a four-week trip they made to the southern Philippines weeks before the Bondi attack. — AFP
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