The death toll from the shooting at Bondi Beach, which observers described as “the deadliest attack in the country since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996”, has risen to 15 people, in addition to one of the suspected shooters. The number of wounded has reached 40, including a police officer. Similar to what occurred in April 1996, following a mass shooting in a tourist town in the Australian state of Tasmania that killed 35 people and injured 23 others, making it the deadliest massacre in modern Australian history and prompting the conservative government at the time to enact sweeping and strict gun control reforms, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged yesterday to continue strengthening similar legislation. In a statement following a meeting of the National Cabinet, he confirmed that “state and territory leaders agreed there is a need for a strong response to reform gun laws as an immediate measure”.
After mass shootings became rare in Australia following the ban on semi automatic weapons in response to the Port Arthur incident, state police ministers and attorneys general have now begun examining new proposals. These include accelerating the establishment of a national firearms register, limiting the number of firearms an individual may possess, tightening open licences, and ensuring that “only Australian citizens can obtain such licences”.
In parallel, Australian media reported that the two suspects in the shooting are a father and son, Sajid Akram, aged 50, and Naveed Akram, aged 24. Authorities limited themselves to providing information about the two men without directly naming them or stating their country of origin. According to available information, the younger suspect was born in Australia, while his father migrated to the country in 1998 on a student visa that was later converted into a partner visa. As further details emerged, properties linked to the two suspects were raided yesterday, including a short term rental home in the south western suburb of Campsie, where the two men are believed to have stayed in the period preceding the attack. Police reported seizing two firearms and several bags from the property, and confirmed that the 24 year old is currently in hospital and is likely to face criminal charges related to the shooting. They also stated that the older suspect had held a firearms licence for nearly ten years, and that six weapons he owned were confiscated following the attack.
According to the Australian prime minister, the younger suspect first came to the attention of Australian authorities in October 2019 “due to his association with other individuals”, before an assessment concluded that there was no indication of “any ongoing threat or likelihood of involvement in violent acts”. In this context, Australian security officials say they face difficulties in identifying individuals who may pose a danger, particularly given that large numbers of people entering the country adopt ideas or ideologies described by officials as “extremist”, and it cannot be decisively determined whether these will lead to deadly attacks.
Among the other individuals highlighted by the media during the incident was a third migrant man who jumped on the suspected shooter from behind a car, struggled with him, disarmed him, and was injured in the process. He underwent surgery yesterday for his wounds. According to available information, this individual moved from Syria to Sydney in 2006, before his parents joined him several months ago.
As for the security measures that followed the attack, they were not limited to Australia alone. The head of the Organisation of Jews in London announced that Hanukkah events in the city will see an increased police presence over the next eight days. Police in New York and Los Angeles also confirmed they would intensify security from the first night of the Jewish holiday. Among the countries that condemned the attack was Iran. The spokesperson for its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmail Baghaei, said in a post on X, “We reject and condemn terrorism and the killing of innocents wherever it occurs”.
However, the occupation government, which from the very first moments following the shooting sought to place responsibility on Iran, despite the established role of Israel’s genocidal war in increasing acts of violence against Jews worldwide, responded to the Iranian statement through its Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein. He claimed that “the world record in deception belongs to the spokesperson of the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Iran has carried out deadly terrorist attacks against Israelis and Jews in the past and continuously seeks to kill Israelis and Jews around the world”, as he put it.
Earlier, Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, stated that “Israeli officials are closely monitoring the investigation”, alleging that “Australian authorities are examining whether there is external involvement, amid a growing assessment in Israel pointing to Iran”. It is noteworthy that authorities in Canberra have, to this point, refrained from assigning responsibility for the incident to any foreign state.
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