Thousands of people gathered as Bondi Beach reopened, days after a mass shooting of Jews during a Hanukkah celebration left 15 dead and dozens injured.
The commemoration began with thousands of people standing shoulder to shoulder on the sand before forming a huge circle in the ocean, symbolizing solidarity among Sydney residents and support for the Jewish community, The Associated Press reported.
Police reopened parts of Bondi Beach on Thursday, just five days after the attack. Amid questions about the safety of the Jewish community and fears of backlash against Muslims, armed police were stationed outside synagogues and mosques in Sydney on Friday, according to the AP.
At Bondi Beach, surfers took to the water for a paddle-out, a ceremony usually held when a surfer dies, where participants sit on boards while tributes are given and some splashing and cheering. A large crowd gathered for the paddle-out at Bondi as Jews bathed on the beach and others gathered to watch the scene, the report said. Sydney Morning Herald.
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Surfers and swimmers take to the ocean in tribute after the shooting Sunday at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Friday, December 19, 2025. (Steve Markham, file/AP photo)
The attack has sparked a sense of unity, especially as stories of heroes of the time come to light, such as that of Ahmed al Ahmed, a Syrian-born Australian Muslim shop owner, who tackled and disarmed one of the gunmen. Al Ahmed was shot and wounded by the other attacker.
In a video on social media, Al Ahmed said Australia is “the best country in the world” before raising his fist and chanting “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie,” according to the AP.
After the tragedy, Australians showed their unity by setting a national record for blood donations, the AP reported. Nearly 35,000 donations have been made and more than 100,000 appointments booked since Monday, according to the AP, citing Lifeblood, a division of the Australian Red Cross.
In this aerial view, members of the Bondi community paddle and swim into the ocean and form a circle to pay their respects during a Paddle Out to honor victims, survivors and first responders of the December 14, 2025 Bondi Shootings in Sydney, Australia. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
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The iconic footbridge at Bondi Beach, where the gunmen were seen carrying out the attack, has become a place for tributes to the victims. Next to a chalk drawing of a menorah and an Australian flag is a drawing of a bumblebee, a symbol commemorating the attack’s youngest victim, 10-year-old Matilda.
Australian opposition leader Sussan Ley visited the site and walked across the pedestrian bridge.
“I was not prepared for the feelings that came over me as I crossed the bridge,” Ley told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I saw that bridge on television the night it happened, and like all Australians I was shocked and appalled.”
“Then I heard directly from people who sheltered under that bridge and saw the shooters, and who will never be able to walk through this part of Bondi again without all those feelings coming back,” she added.
People walk past a memorial drawn on the wall of a walkway in tribute after Sunday’s shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Friday, December 19, 2025. (Steve Markham/AP Photo)
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Australian Olympians Jessica Fox, Ian Thorpe and Steve Solomon, along with other athletes, visited the memorial and laid flowers, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
“Moments like these, coming together, connecting, promising for change, promising for improvements and prosperity as a community and as a country, is what gives us the hope to put on the uniform we have today,” Solomon, who is Jewish, told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Fox, who is also Jewish, became emotional at the scene, saying, “It shouldn’t take a tragedy to bring people together.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
