Overview
- Speaking at a White House holiday reception, President Trump offered condolences and labeled the Sydney attack a purely antisemitic assault.
- He urged American Jews to celebrate Hanukkah proudly and hailed Ahmed al-Ahmad, the bystander seen on video tackling and disarming a shooter, who is hospitalized with serious wounds.
- Australian authorities report that two gunmen opened fire at a Chabad-led event on Bondi Beach, leaving 11 dead and 29 wounded, and are treating the case as terrorism targeting the Jewish community.
- Police shot and killed one attacker and detained another; officials named 24-year-old Naveed Akram as a suspect and said improvised explosive devices were found in a nearby vehicle.
- U.S. officials, including the State Department, expressed solidarity with Australia and the Jewish community, as Trump also noted separate deadly incidents in Syria and at Brown University while offering respects.