Australian PM Praises Hero Who Disarmed Gunman in Sydney Hanukkah Terror Attack (VIDEO) (Worthy News In-Depth)

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (Worthy News) – Australia’s prime minister has visited an injured man who bravely disarmed one of two gunmen held responsible for killing at least 15 people attending Hanukkah celebrations at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, in what authorities have described as a terrorist attack targeting the Jewish community.

“Thank you. You’re very strong. Thank you very much. And your heart is strong,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the patient, Ahmed al-Ahmed, while standing next to his bed and holding the man’s hand, video footage obtained by Worthy News showed.

“Thank you. Your courage is inspiring,” Albanese added during his Tuesday visit to Sydney’s St. George Hospital, where the wounded man has been treated.

“Thank you. Your courage is inspiring,” Albanese added. Al-Ahmed, a 43-year-old Sydney fruit seller and father of two, replied softly: “Thank you very much, sir.”

He was injured while intervening after gunfire erupted at the Hanukkah gathering on Sunday evening.

Video footage obtained by Worthy News shows al-Ahmed running toward one of the alleged attackers, wrestling a rifle from him, and then pointing the weapon back at the gunman, prompting the suspect to retreat.

ACTIONS SAVED MORE LIVES

Witnesses and officials say his actions likely prevented further loss of life.

Al-Ahmed was shot during the confrontation and remains hospitalized with bullet wounds. His brother, Huthaifa al-Ahmed, told reporters that he is recovering but “not 100 percent yet.”

“I’m really proud of my brother,” he said. “He’s a good man. He’s brave.”

Political leaders and religious figures praise the wounded man’s courage and selfless actions

The leader of Australia’s New South Wales state government, Premier Chris Minns, who also visited al-Ahmed in hospital, called him a “real-life hero.”

“There is no doubt that more lives would have been lost if not for Ahmed’s selfless courage,” Minns said.

MASSIVE DONATIONS CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED

A GoFundMe donation campaign established to assist with al-Ahmed’s medical recovery has raised nearly $1.5 million, drawing thousands of donations from around the world.

Among the contributors was U.S. billionaire hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman, who publicly shared the fundraiser on social media and donated $99,999, according to the campaign’s organizers.

At a National Menorah Lighting ceremony in Washington, D.C., Rabbi Levi Shemtov, director of the American Friends of Lubavitch, praised al-Ahmed’s heroism and urged prayers for his recovery.

“He is not a member of the Jewish community, yet he gave up his own safety to stop one of the gunmen and prevent even further loss of life,” Shemtov said.

Jewish community holds vigils and commemorations for victims of the Bondi Beach attack

Members of Australia’s Jewish community have held memorial vigils and commemorative gatherings in Sydney and other cities to honor the victims of the Bondi Beach attack and to pray for the wounded.

MOURNERS LAYING FLOWERS NEAR SITE

Mourners laid flowers and lit candles near the site of the shooting and at synagogues, while community leaders called for unity and resilience in the face of antisemitic violence.

Organizers said the commemorations were intended both to remember those killed and to affirm the community’s commitment to faith and peace.

Authorities say the suspects were a father and son, and are investigating the attack as terrorism

Australian authorities say the alleged attackers were a father and son, aged 50 and 24. One suspect was shot dead by police at the scene, while the other was critically wounded and remains hospitalized under guard.

Police have not officially released the suspects’ names or nationality.

However, several international media outlets, citing law-enforcement sources, have identified the suspects as Sajid Akram, 50, and his son Naveed Akram, 24, and reported that they were of Pakistani origin.

ISLAMIC STATE-INSPIRED ATTACK

Authorities confirmed that six firearms and two improvised explosive devices were recovered at the scene. Prime Minister Albanese described the attack as “an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, and an act of terrorism.”

He confirmed Tuesday that the father and son accused of carrying out Sunday’s antisemitic attack had been inspired by the Islamic State “terrorist organization”, also known as ISIS.


“It would appear that there is evidence that this was inspired by a terrorist organization, by ISIS,” Albanese told reporters, citing the Islamic State flags reportedly found in the car registered to the younger suspect.


Earlier, he said the shooters were apparently motivated by the group’s “ideology of hate” that led to “a preparedness to engage in mass murder.”

Besides killing a child and 14 others, the gunmen also injured some 42 people, authorities announced. Twenty-two people remained in hospital Tuesday, some of them in critical condition, according to local health authorities.


Although smaller in scale, the shootings resembled the October 7, 2023 of roughly 1,200 Jewish people in Israel carried out by Hamas.

Australian officials and Jewish community leaders said the Bondi Beach attack was one of the deadliest antisemitic attacks against Jews outside Israel in years.

The death toll also exceeded that of several previous major antisemitic attacks abroad, including in France where the 2012 Toulouse school shooting killed four Jews while the 2015 Hyper Cacher supermarket attack in Paris left four Jewish people dead. Three years later, the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting in the U.S. city of Pittsburgh, killed 11 worshippers.

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