GUNMEN attacked a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, today, killing at least 12 people in an “evil, anti-semitic, terrorist attack.”

The shooting began at about 6.47pm local time at the Archer Park area of the beach, where hundreds had gathered for the “Chanukah by the Sea” event marking the start of the eight-day Jewish festival.

Police said the attackers, armed with what they described as “long guns,” opened fire on the crowd as the beach was packed with families, swimmers and tourists.

At least 29 people were wounded, including two police officers, New South Wales police commissioner Mal Lanyon said.

One gunman was shot dead by police at the scene, while a second was arrested and remained in a critical condition in hospital.

Police later identified one of the attackers as 24-year-old Naveed Akram.

The force also said one of the men was known to security services, although there had been no specific intelligence warning of an imminent attack.

Officers were examining several suspicious items, including several improvised explosive devices found in one suspect’s vehicle.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said the shooting was declared a terrorist incident because of the nature of the target and the weapons used.

“This attack was designed to target Sydney’s Jewish community,” he said.

Video footage filmed by onlookers showed people in swimwear fleeing the shoreline as gunshots rang out.

Other clips appeared to show two men firing from a footbridge leading to the beach.

One widely shared video broadcast on Australian television showed a bystander tackling and disarming one of the gunmen.

The man was later identified as 43-year-old fruit shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed, who suffered two gunshot wounds and was taken to hospital.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “devastated” by the attack, calling it “an act of evil, of antisemitism and terrorism.”

He pledged national unity and said Australians would stand with the Jewish community.

Among those killed was a British-born rabbi.

He was later identified by Israeli sources as Eli Schanger, a Chabad ultra-Orthodox leader.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said police patrols would be increased around Jewish communities in the capital ahead of Hanukkah events, though the Metropolitan Police added that there was no indication of any direct link to the threat level in Britain.

Hanukkah, also known as Chanukah, is an eight-day festival of light usually observed in December.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is understood to have been in touch with Mr Albanese and the Community Security Trust, a charity which provides protection for Jewish communities in Britain and has frequently opposed pro-Palestine protests.

Sir Keir Starmer said in a post on X that Hanukkah should be “a time of celebration and joy” and described the attack as “sickening.”

Green Party leader Zack Polanski, Britain’s only Jewish political leader, said that he was “thinking of everyone in Australia and those around the world in the Jewish Community who know this fear and loss.”

“Our community is once again mourning,” he said in a statement on his way to a Chanukah event.

Your Party’s Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn were among those sending messages of solidarity with the Jewish community online, with Mr Corbyn saying: “In moments like these, we must remember our common humanity, reaffirm our opposition to hatred, and stand up for the rights of everyone to worship in freedom, safety and peace.”

Campaign group Jewish Voice for Liberation shared the Jewish Council of Australia’s message of “horror” at the shooting, adding: “Whatever the extreme level of violence suffered by civilians in Gaza, it is no excuse for the murder of uninvolved civilians thousands of miles away.”

National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede wrote: “We must all stand against such barbarism, and work together for a world free from anti-semitism.”

The attack comes after a year in which anti-semitic incidents in Australia have surged, including assaults, arson, vandalism and threats, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, where most of the country’s Jewish population live.