A growing number of people gather around a flower memorial at the Bondi Pavilion at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, a day after a shooting. (AP Photo) After gunmen opened fire at a Jewish festival at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing at least 15 people, Australian authorities have described the attack as antisemitic. Nearly 1,000 people had gathered at the beach to mark the first day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
Authorities have confirmed that a 10-year-old girl, a Holocaust survivor, two Rabbis and a young French national were among those shot dead. Though the victims have not been officially be identified, families and friends have been paying tributes to those who lost their lives in Sydney.
Here’s what we know about some victims:
Rabbi Eli Schlanger
One of the organisers of the “Chanukah by the Sea” event at Bondi Beach, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, 41, was the head of the local Chabad mission which is an international Hasidic Jewish organisation, headquartered in Brooklyn. “Schlanger was a devoted rabbi and chaplain,” the organisation said on his killing, adding he worked “to support Jewish life in the Bondi community.”
Schlanger, who was born in Britain and was a father of five, died in the Bondi Beach shootout on Sunday and his death was confirmed by his cousin, Rabbi Zalman Lewis. “My dear cousin, Rabbi Eli Schlanger @bondirabbi was murdered in today’s terrorist attack in Sydney,” Lewis wrote in a post on Instagram.
Matilda
A 10-year-old girl, named by her family to local media as Matilda, was among those killed in the Bondi Beach shooting in Sydney on Sunday. Matilda was at the beach along with her parents, younger sister and friends when the two gunmen opened fire. She was injured in the shootout and was rushed to hospital but the doctors couldn’t save her.
10-year-old Matilda named as the youngest victim of the Bondi Beach terror attack
The girl was a student at Sydney’s Harmony Russian School and is among the 15 people killed by the attackers pic.twitter.com/OspQVHRmYW
— RT (@RT_com) December 15, 2025
Matilda was part of the Harmony Russian School of Sydney, which in a post on Facebook, confirmed that she was one of its students. In a Facebook post, the school wrote, “We are deeply saddened to share the news that a former student of our school has passed away in the hospital due to injuries sustained from a gunshot.”
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Dan Elkayam
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed the death of French national Dan Elkayam who had gathered with other members at Bondi Beach to mark the first night of Hanukkah. As per Elkayam’s LinkedIn profile, he worked for NBC Universal as an IT analyst and had shifted to Australia in 2024. He was a soccer fan and played for Rockdale Ilinden FC’s Premier League 1 team, CNN reported.
French minister Barrot, in a post on social media wrote, “It’s with immense sadness that we have learnt that our compatriot Dan Elkayam was among the victims of the terrorist attack that hit Jewish families gathered on the beach at Bondi in Sydney.”
Rabbi Yaakov Levitan
The Chabad mission confirmed the death of Rabbi Yaakov Levitan who was a “popular coordinator” of the activities in Sydney, the organisation said. A BBC report stated that Levitan worked as secretary of the Sydney Beth Din which is a rabbinical court and used to work at the BINA centre.
