Crowds in white gather despite the heat at Bondi beachside vigil

Caitlin Cassidy

Lynda Ben-Menashe, president of the National Council of Jewish Women Australia, is the first to speak at the vigil at Bondi Pavilion.

The site is packed despite the heat. Ben-Menashe says like many of the victims from the shooting, her family was born in Odesa and fled to Australia to escape persecution.

I have been a proud Australian citizen all my life … I have been inundated with messages of condolence and support … an outpouring of love from allies, friends and also strangers. Today is a testament to the decency of Australian people. This circle of love and support is the circle we must enlarge.

She particularly recalls a message she received from a woman in Israel whose kibbutz was invaded on 7 October 2023. She says 62 of the woman’s friends, family and neighbours were killed.

She understands the danger we are facing in this country, wraps her arms around us, and tells us to rebuild.

Mourners attend the vigil at Bondi Pavillion in Sydney on Sunday. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare

Updated at 18.56 EST

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Caitlin Cassidy

‘It is hard to imagine a stronger community’, Russian Jewish community leader tells vigil

Next to speak is Anna Maylis, the Zionist Federation of Australia’s Kangarusski community coordinator.

She says 10-year-old Matilda, who was killed a week ago in the shooting, was a student of hers and came to all of her events for the Russian Jewish community since she was three years old.

Maylis attended an event with Matilda and her family earlier that day, before they headed to the Hanukah event at Bondi beach, as did many of the victims.

She says in Bondi, her Russian accent is “very normal”, but the Jewish Russians are a small community, and all very close. They usually come together at Sydney’s only Russian restaurant, or at Bondi, but now they “meet at funerals every day”.

There is not a family in our community that is not personally connected to the victims, many of us were here …

Most of us have experienced antisemitism in its ugliest form … we lived through it. But what did this do to us? It made us strong. It is hard to imagine a stronger community … The whole of Australia is mourning. Thank you Australia, we need you.

Mourners and flowers at the Bondi Pavillion in Sydney on Sunday. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare

Updated at 18.56 EST

Crowds in white gather despite the heat at Bondi beachside vigil

Caitlin Cassidy

Lynda Ben-Menashe, president of the National Council of Jewish Women Australia, is the first to speak at the vigil at Bondi Pavilion.

The site is packed despite the heat. Ben-Menashe says like many of the victims from the shooting, her family was born in Odesa and fled to Australia to escape persecution.

I have been a proud Australian citizen all my life … I have been inundated with messages of condolence and support … an outpouring of love from allies, friends and also strangers. Today is a testament to the decency of Australian people. This circle of love and support is the circle we must enlarge.

She particularly recalls a message she received from a woman in Israel whose kibbutz was invaded on 7 October 2023. She says 62 of the woman’s friends, family and neighbours were killed.

She understands the danger we are facing in this country, wraps her arms around us, and tells us to rebuild.

Mourners attend the vigil at Bondi Pavillion in Sydney on Sunday. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare

Updated at 18.56 EST

Bondi Pavilion floral tributes to be removed on Monday

A floral memorial left by community members to honour the memory of those killed during the Bondi attacks will be removed on Monday for historical preservation.

Notices announcing the decision were posted to lamp-posts around the Bondi Pavilion on Sunday.

A notice from NSW government noting the floral memorial will be removed on Monday 22 December. Photograph: Caitlin Cassidy/The Guardian

The Sydney Jewish Museum and the Australian Jewish Historical Society will collect the materials to preserve them.

• In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and Griefline on 1300 845 745. In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Updated at 18.37 EST

Caitlin Cassidy

Crowds gather at Bondi Pavilion to mark one week since shooting

A crowd of hundreds have gathered at Bondi Pavilion in white to mark a week since the terror attack took the lives of 15 people.

Formal proceedings have started with a rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, a song that was composed by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg, who were Jewish, followed by a minute of silence.

It is a sweltering day in Sydney, and days out from Christmas there would usually be a festive mood in the air. Instead, screens are being set up on the promenade for a memorial this evening, and police helicopters circle overhead.

Among those to have gathered at Bondi Pavilion is the minister for social services, Tanya Plibersek, the governor general, Sam Mostyn, and independent member for Kooyong, Monique Ryan. Warringah MP Zali Stegall and former Goldstein MP Zoe Daniel are also in attendance.

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Updated at 18.26 EST

Support shown to Jewish community has been ‘touching’, rabbi says

Efforts to show solidarity with the Jewish community have been welcomed even as people work through their grief, community leaders say.

Rabbi Eli Feldman, leader of the Newtown synagogue, said the community was still “in shock” and “devastated” a week on from the Bondi attack.

You know, it’s not just numbers, it’s people. People have died. People are suffering. People are in hospital. A good friend of mine is in hospital. Had a surgery yesterday. His father was executed – he couldn’t even go to the funeral.

Feldman said the support has been shown to date has been “touching” with political leaders and, leaders from other faiths contacting him in solidarity with the Jewish community, and flowers being left outside the rabbi’s synagogue in Newtown.

It’s so touching and we appreciate it so much. And I think that practically, what every Australian can do, in addition to showing their support, is also to help those widows and orphans and help those families.

Rabbi Eli Feldman at the Bondi Pavilion memorial on Friday. Photograph: Steve Markham/AP

On efforts to address antisemitism and anti-Jewish hatred in the community, Feldman said “nothing happens in a vacuum and nothing happens by itself” and that “we have to look at – where is the ideology coming from? How is being inculcated within young people in our country?”

Ultimately, we’re all created in the image of God and that’s what every single human being is. And I think that if people are educated in the positive side, they’ll be less susceptible for the wicked ideologies.

Here is more on how you can help at this time:

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Updated at 18.05 EST

The families of those killed and injured during the Bondi attack a week ago are still grappling with the enormity of what has taken place, community leaders say.

Speaking to ABC News this morning, Alyx Ryvchin from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said he had been spending time with the families.

They’re in a bewildered state, they’re still in shock, they don’t know what to do with themselves.

He said there was “a lot of anger” in the community at present.

We’re cycling through the various emotions, the various stages, and there’s a real feeling of having been let down and betrayed; the community wants answers and we want change.

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A key piece of Port Arthur-era gun reform remains unfinished. Could it have helped prevent the Bondi attack?

A national firearms register, which would track weapons across the country in real time, was a priority for law enforcement and gun control advocates after the 1996 Port Athur massacre.

But almost 30 years later, it remains unfinished.

The Australian Federal Police Association president, Alex Caruana, told Guardian Australia this week that a robust national firearms database would have allowed New South Wales police to better assess the risk posed by the Bondi gunmen ahead of Sunday’s terror attack.

Sajid Akram, who was shot dead by police, held a firearm licence and owned six guns, which he and his son Naveed allegedly used to open fire on Jewish families celebrating Hanukah at Bondi beach.

It was disclosed on Monday that Naveed, who has now been charged with 59 offences including 15 counts of murder, came to the attention of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) in October 2019 “on the basis of being associated with others”.

For more, read Ariel Bogle’s full report here:

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Updated at 17.46 EST

Australian football star pays tribute to Bondi victims in Scottish league game

A rising Australian player in Scotland has paid tribute to victims of the Bondi tragedy on an afternoon when Socceroo Martin Boyle shone again.

Sydney football export Zac Sapsford, who is Jewish, has paid tribute to victims of the Bondi shooting at a Scottish Premiership match, with his manager at Dundee United explaining the young striker knew people involved in the tragedy.

At the end of a week when the 23-year-old former Western Sydney Wanderers prospect made a name for himself in Scotland by scoring a spectacular winner in United’s rare victory over champions Celtic, Sapsford wore a black armband in their 1-1 home draw with Hibernian on Saturday.

The United boss, Jim Goodwin, was left to explain afterwards:

Unfortunately, Zac knew a number of people involved in the tragedy in Bondi Beach. His family stay quite close to there.

– AAP

Zac Sapsford (in orange) wore a black armband in tribute to victims of the Bondi attack during Dundee United’s match against Hibernian. Photograph: Alan Rennie/ShutterstockShare

Updated at 17.42 EST

Australians asked to hold minute’s silence tonight at 6.47pm

Australians are being invited to light a candle at 6.47pm this evening and hold a minute’s silence to mark the moment when the gunman in the Bondi attack opened fire.

In a post to social media, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the opportunity marked a “moment for Australians to stand with our Jewish community”.

At 6:47pm, you can light a candle in your window to remember the victims of the antisemitic terrorist attack in Bondi and support those who are grieving.

Standing together to show that hatred and violence will never define who we are.

The Australian and Aboriginal flags fly at half mast on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Sunday has been designated a national day of reflection for the victims of the Bondi terror attack. Photograph: Mark Baker/APShare

Updated at 18.20 EST

Tom McIlroy

Albanese convening national security committee for eighth time since attack

Anthony Albanese is convening the national security committee of cabinet again this morning, the eighth time the group has met since the Bondi shootings last weekend.

Albanese is expected to join mourners commemorating the 15 people killed at a memorial service at Bondi beach tonight, with the theme of “a night in unity”.

Sunday has been declared a national day of reflection to honour the victims and to give Australians a chance to stand in solidarity with the country’s Jewish community. A national day of mourning is planned in 2026 and a permanent memorial site is expected to be built in the future.

Yesterday the prime minister said he expected tonight’s commemorations at Bondi to be “a very significant event for our nation”.

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Updated at 17.35 EST

Minns says the thought that something might have been done to avoid or prevent the attack keeps him awake at night.

It’s something I stay up at night wondering about and worrying about. I bear responsibility for it. Of course I do. I was the premier of the state over the last two years when there’s been this ratcheting up of antisemitism in our community.

This is why the premier says a royal commission is necessary to “ensure it doesn’t happen again”.

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Updated at 17.23 EST

Minns: ‘We are not going to solve this huge problem with more hate’

The premier says authorities can’t do anything to stop an anti-immigration rally planned for Sunday in Sydney but that any gathering will be met with a “massive police presence”.

What I would say is this is the last thing we need right now, an attack on immigrants or immigrant communities. The Jewish community are burying their dead and deserve an opportunity to do that [in a] state of grace and with some peace. We are not going to solve this huge problem with more hate.

Minns said those who are angry or concerned might honour the request of a rabbi who was killed during the Bondi attacks who suggested people do a “good deed for someone you’ve never met” instead of giving into a “corkscrew of hate”.

If you want to do something positive, give blood, donate to charity, do something positive.

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Updated at 17.22 EST

Minns describes ‘evil washing machine of hate’ linking pro-Palestine protests to Bondi attacks

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has also pledged to “fight radical terrorism”, antisemitism and racism “wherever we find it” in the wake of the Bondi attacks.

The premier made the comments while speaking to ABC News following an earlier appearance on Channel Seven, where he described extremist ideology as an “evil washing machine of hate with different things tipped into the top”.

However, the premier said that he believed there was a slippery slope where slogans and social media posts manifested in vandalism and arson against Jewish places of worship.

I believe antisemitism begins with slogans and then it graduates online and then it’s a Twitter post and then it’s antisemitism in the street, and then it’s graffiti on the side of the synagogue, then we saw a synagogue burned to the ground in arson, and then it manifests itself in violent acts in our community. This is an escalation, and I believe that in many cases when you see violent imagery and hateful slogans and chanting on the steps of the Opera House or in our parks, or in our community, it is unleashing forces that the organisers of the protests can’t control.

Whatever the reasons for those protests and genuine grievances or concerns about what is happening overseas, my responsibility is in Sydney today.

Chris Minns speaks to media on Saturday. Photograph: George Chan/Getty Images

The premier’s mention of the Opera House protest referred to events on 10 October 2023. Two days after the Hamas attack, pro-Palestine activists marched from Sydney town hall to the Opera House, which had been lit up in white and blue in solidarity with Israel after the 7 October attacks by Hamas.

A widely shared video of the protest included claims the protesters were chanting “Gas the Jews”, although NSW police later said an independent expert had analysed audio and visual files and concluded that the phrase used was “Where’s the Jews?”. The chant “Fuck the Jews” was also used.

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Updated at 17.45 EST

No ‘back to normal’ after Bondi attacks, Minns flags

Minns flagged “enormous change” within New South Wales, saying that there’s no “[going] back to normal” after the Bondi attacks.

We’ve announced the first tranche of changes in NSW in relation to hate speech, protests, gun laws, terrorist slogans, terrorist chants. But this isn’t the end of it. And I just want to make it clear in five, six, 10 weeks’ time, we just can’t turn the page on this and pretend that it didn’t exist and everybody goes back to normal.

Minns reiterated his pledge to crackdown on “hate preachers” within New South Wales saying his government will work to target “those that preach hate in our community, that put hate in young people’s hearts”.

We need to send a persistent and long-term message that we’re not going to put up with this. And it’s not the country that most of us in Australia recognise.

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Updated at 17.37 EST

Royal commission into Bondi shooting will complete ‘jigsaw puzzle’ of how attack occurred, premier says

A royal commission into the events surrounding the Bondi attacks will complete the “jigsaw” and give Australians the answers they are looking for in the wake of the attacks, the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, says.

Speaking to Channel Seven’s Sunrise on Sunday morning, the premier said an independent inquiry was “absolutely essential” to better understand happened and shape his state government’s response going forward.

I’ve got bits and pieces of the jigsaw puzzle. We know parts of why this occurred on Sunday, but until we have the full picture … I can’t explain that to the people of NSW.

The Premier said he could not offer a timeframe for when it will happen as he still had to consult with Jewish community leaders.

Minns added the details of any royal commission would need to be worked out in coordination with the federal government to ensure it was given the proper authority.

We need to make sure the terms of reference are tight. And I don’t mind telling you this morning I haven’t drafted them yet, and I’m not going to draft them until I speak to leaders of the Jewish community who’ve been burying their dead this week.

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Updated at 17.21 EST

Thirteen people still being treated in hospital

Thirteen people injured during the Bondi attacks remain in hospital where they are undergoing treatment, according to a NSW Health update at 7.30 this morning.

In its latest update, New South Wales health authorities say the patients are receiving care in hospitals across Sydney, with one patient in a critical condition at St Vincent’s hospital.

Three people are in a critical but stable condition at St George and St Vincent’s hospitals.

Another nine people are in a stable condition and receiving treatment at the Prince of Wales, Royal Prince Alfred and Royal North Shore hospitals.

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Updated at 16.28 EST

Good morning and welcome to the live blog

A week since 15 people were killed in a terror attack at a Hanukah event at Bondi beach, Australians will remember the 15 lives lost in a national day of mourning.

Flags will fly at half-mast and buildings will be lit in yellow as the nation stands in solidarity with the Jewish community on Sunday before a formal public service for victims and survivors. Lights will beam into the sky above Bondi Pavilion, where thousands of flowers and tributes have been laid since the tragedy.

NSW parliament will sit this coming week to consider legislation in response to the Bondi attack, Chris Minns has said – we’ll bring you all the reactions to his announcement yesterday that the state will move to ban the display of hateful symbols, matching national laws, and give police new powers.

And Anthony Albanese has backed Minns’s call for a state-based royal commission – more on that soon too.

I’m Royce Kurmelovs and I’ll be taking the blog through the day.

With that, let’s get started …

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Updated at 17.17 EST