French authorities confirmed Sunday that Dan Elkayam, a 27-year-old French Jewish engineer, was among the 16 people killed in Sunday’s deadly terror attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney, which targeted a Hanukkah celebration organized by the Chabad movement.
Elkayam had immigrated to Australia about a year ago and was known to be active in the local Jewish community. His death was confirmed by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who condemned the attack in strong terms.
“It is with deep sorrow that we have learned that our compatriot Dan Elkayam was among the victims of the vile terrorist attack that targeted Jewish families gathered at Bondi Beach in Sydney on the first night of Hanukkah,” Barrot said.
“We mourn with his family and loved ones, with the Jewish community and the bereaved Australian people. This heinous act is yet another tragic expression of the shocking surge in antisemitic hatred to which we must put a stop. France will spare no effort to root out antisemitism wherever it appears and to fight terrorism in all its forms. The lights of Hanukkah must not go out and will not go out.”
The attack, which left 16 dead and dozens injured, occurred during a “Hanukkah by the Sea” celebration near Bondi Park at the northern end of the beach. The event, attended by over 1,000 people, was just getting underway when gunfire erupted from a nearby bridge.
Witnesses said the gunmen, dressed in black, opened fire as a senior community figure was speaking. Video from the scene showed one of the attackers being shot and collapsing, while another had been subdued earlier.
The scene of the mass shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia
(Video: Reuters)
In another clip, a bystander was seen leaping onto one of the gunmen from behind and seizing his weapon. Additional footage showed civilians and police pinning the attackers to the ground; CPR was administered to one, who later died of his injuries.
Police identified one of the shooters as 24-year-old Naveed Akram, a Sydney resident. Authorities raided his home and detained two suspects in connection with the attack. Investigators are now probing the possible involvement of a third attacker. Explosive devices were found under the bridge where the gunmen opened fire and in the vehicle believed to have been used in the attack. Police sappers safely neutralized the explosives.
Israeli officials have increasingly pointed to Iran as the likely instigator of the massacre, though no official claim of responsibility has been made.
In addition to Alkayam, three other victims of the Bondi Beach terror attack have been identified: Chabad emissary Rabbi Eli Schlanger, a Jewish schoolchild and Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman.
Kleitman’s wife, Larisa, told the Daily Mail that her husband was shot while shielding her during the attack. The couple, married for nearly 50 years, had come to the event from their home in Matraville, a suburb of Sydney. “I think he was shot because he raised himself up to protect me, in the back of the head,” she said. Kleytman, a Holocaust survivor, spent his childhood during World War II in Siberia under extremely harsh conditions. He and Larisa later immigrated to Australia from Ukraine, raising two children and eventually becoming grandparents to 11.
Rabbi Schlanger was shot dead just weeks after the circumcision of his fifth son. A central organizer of the Hanukkah celebration, he had been serving as a Chabad emissary in Sydney since 2008, providing religious support and outreach to the city’s Jewish community.
Beyond his work in Australia, Schlanger was also involved in global efforts to commemorate the victims of the October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel. In recent months, he traveled to Israel, where he was photographed offering encouragement to IDF soldiers. His WhatsApp profile photo reportedly showed him surrounded by troops.
Just weeks before his death, Schlanger had sent a letter to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urging him not to recognize a Palestinian state. “As a rabbi in Sydney, I ask you not to betray the Jewish people and not to betray God,” he wrote. “This land was given by God to Abraham, then to his son Isaac, and afterward to Jacob, to be the eternal homeland of the Jewish people.”