British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the terrorist attack on Jews at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, as he confirmed increased vigilance around Jewish sites across the country on Sunday.
The attack in Sydney was earlier described by Australian authorities as a terrorist attack targeted at members of the Jewish community celebrating the holy festival of Hanukkah, or Chanukah, at the time of the shooting.
The Metropolitan Police in London issued a statement in solidarity soon after, reiterating plans to bolster security around synagogues.
“The news that the Bondi beach attack was an antisemitic terrorist attack against Jewish families at a Chanukah event is sickening,” said Starmer.
“My thoughts are with the victims and their families. The United Kingdom will always stand with Australia and the Jewish community. We are actively working with the Community Security Trust (CST) on the policing of Chanukah events,” he said.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said that two individuals fired on a “crowded group of families” at the park in a “cowardly act of terrifying violence”. At least 11 fatalities and 29 injuries have been reported from the site of the attack, categorised by Australian officials as a “terrorist incident”.
“While the details of the incident continue to emerge, the Australian authorities have now confirmed that the target was a Hanukkah gathering taking place on Bondi Beach,” the Met Police said in a statement.
“We were already working closely with partners, including the Community Security Trust, to provide an increased presence around synagogues and other community venues at this important time,” the statement added.
While there is no information to suggest any link between the attack in Sydney and the threat level in London, this morning we are stepping up our police presence, carrying out additional community patrols and engaging with the Jewish community to understand what more we can do in the coming hours and days.
Met Police in London after Bondi Beach terror attack
The police urged the public in Britain to continue to remain vigilant at events and in public places.
The scenes in Bondi are shocking and distressing: Australian PM
In Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement that his thoughts were with all those affected. “The scenes in Bondi are shocking and distressing,” he said. “Police and emergency responders are on the ground working to save lives.”
Mass shooting deaths in Australia are extremely rare. A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws and made it much more difficult for Australians to acquire firearms.
Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in 2014 and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves.
In 2022, two police officers were shot and killed by Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state. The three shooters in that incident, conspiracy theorists who hated the police, were also shot and killed by officers after a six-hour siege in the region of Wieambilla, along with one of their neighbours.
