Police: 7 detained Thurs. have 'ideological links' to terrorists

Intel further confirms Bondi Hanukkah terror attack was ‘ISIS-inspired,’ says Australian PM

Albanese announces gun buyback, and ‘day of reflection’ after terrorists killed 15 people and wounded dozens at Jewish community event; 14-year-old survivor recounts shielding children

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Friday that online video feed picked up by the country’s intelligence further confirmed that the antisemitic mass shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday was inspired by the Islamic State terror group.

“We’ve been informed that the Office of National Intelligence has identified a regular online video feed from ISIS that reinforces that this was an ISIS-inspired attack,” Albanese told reporters in Canberra, where he also announced a gun buyback plan and a “day of reflection” to embrace the Jewish community on Sunday.

Islamic State itself said in a lengthy statement on its Telegram channel that the terror attack on Sunday was a “source of pride” but did not claim responsibility for it.

Australian police are investigating whether the terrorists, identified as father-and-son duo Sajid and Naveed Akram, met with Islamist extremists during a visit to the Philippines weeks before the shooting.

Meanwhile, Australian police said seven men detained in Sydney’s southwest on Thursday have possible ideological connections to the two terrorists who killed 15 people and wounded dozens at the Jewish community’s candlelighting event at Bondi that marked the first night of Hanukkah.

“We don’t have definitive links between the individuals who committed these atrocities on Sunday and this yesterday apart from potential commonality in some thinking, but no associations at this stage,” New South Wales state Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson told ABC Radio on Friday.

Investigations are at an initial stage, Hudson said, adding that one of the locations the group was planning to visit was Bondi.

Albanese announces ‘day of reflection,’ gun buyback set for Sunday

Australian Jewish groups have accused Albanese of failing to take seriously their warnings about antisemitism that has spiked since Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, 2023,  triggering the Gaza war.

Speaking at the press conference on Friday, Albanese said Australia would honor the attack victims and the Jewish community with a “day of reflection” on Sunday, a week after the attack.

“This day is about standing with the Jewish community, wrapping our arms around them, and all Australians sharing their grief,” Albanese said.

He also announced that Australia will launch a national gun buyback scheme similar to the tough gun laws introduced following the 1996 massacre in Tasmania’s Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people.

“Australia’s gun laws were last substantially reformed in the wake of the Port Arthur tragedy. The terrible events at Bondi show we need to get more guns off our streets,” Albanese said. “We expect hundreds of thousands of firearms will be collected and destroyed through this scheme.”

The elder terrorost, who was killed on the scene, held a firearm license and had six registered guns.

If a man in Sydney’s suburbs needs “six high-powered rifles and is able to get them under existing licensing schemes, then there’s something wrong,” said Albanese.

An estimated four million firearms are currently in Australia. The government would work with states to target surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms, with the costs to be shared between the federal and state governments, Albanese said.

Teen wounded while shielding two children

On Friday, the community buried Boris and Sofia Gurman, a husband and wife who were killed while trying to thwart one of the terrorists, as more stories of extraordinary bravery came out.

As the terrorists opened fire on hundreds of Jewish community members, 14-year-old Chaya Dadon’s mind was clear.

Across from where she had taken cover from the gunshots under a bench, Dadon saw two children stranded out in the open, beside their wounded parents.

“I knew in that moment, I felt like Hashem was sitting right next to me,” she said in an interview with Reuters, using a Hebrew name for God. “He was whispering into my ear, ‘This is your mission: go save those kids’.”

The schoolgirl left the safety of her hiding spot, pulled the children away and jumped on top of them, covering their bodies with her own.

At some point, she was shot in the thigh. But she kept shielding them, reciting the Shema, a Jewish prayer.

“I knew I got shot, but I wasn’t even worried, I channeled all that energy that I had into strength and I made sure that I knew I had to be there for those kids,” she said. “If I could give up my life saving these children, that’s what I was going to do.”

Her father eventually found them and took her to get help. “When he found me, he told me this after, that I had the girl in this arm and the boy in this arm. And I was just kissing them.”

Dadon spent four days at the Sydney Children’s Hospital before returning home on Thursday. She is now walking with crutches, which she has decorated with stickers commemorating some of those who were killed.

She still does not know the children she shielded, but hopes to connect with them again.

“Those little kids that have been through things that no one should have been through,” she said, but the ordeal would make the Jewish community stronger.

“Even if they can’t see it now, everyone is going to grow stronger because I really feel like that situation, everyone was tested.”