Australian authorities said one of the shooters was 'known' to intelligence agencies for years, but was not perceived as a threat
News Desk - The Cradle
“One of the individuals was known to us, but not in an immediate threat perspective, so obviously we need to look at what happened here,” said the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), Mike Burgess.
The son has been identified as 24-year-old Pakistani national Naveed Akram, and is in the hospital in critical condition. His father, Sajid, who took part in the attack, was shot dead by police.
Sajid had held a gun license for 10 years, and both used legally registered firearms during the shooting.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Naveed Akram came under suspicion by ASIO in 2019.
“[Naveed Akram] was examined on the basis of being associated with others and the assessment was made that there was no indication of any ongoing threat or threat of him engaging in violence,” the premier said.
New South Wales police commissioner Mal Lanyon said both Naveed and his father lived in the Sydney suburb of Bonnyrigg, in a house which was raided by Australian police on Sunday evening.
There was nothing “to indicate that either of the men involved in yesterday’s attack was planning the attack,” Lanyon said.
He did not comment on Australian media reports that said a manifesto and an ISIS flag were found in their vehicle.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) had said that the investigation into Naveed Akram in 2019 involved an ISIS cell.
Israel has blamed the attack on growing “antisemitism” in Australia. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this antisemitism has been fueled by Australia’s decision to recognize Palestinian statehood.
Asked if he saw a link between his recognition of Palestine and the Bondi shooting, Albanese said, “No, I don’t.”
“And overwhelmingly, most of the world recognizes a two-state solution as being the way forward in the Middle East,” he added.
Netanyahu had said on Sunday that he sent Albanese a letter in August urging him to “replace weakness with action, appeasement with resolve,” adding that the Australian prime minister instead “replaced weakness with weakness and appeasement with more appeasement.”
At least 15 people were killed in the shooting, which targeted a Jewish Hanukkah celebration. A 10-year-old girl was among those killed.
Pro-Israel Chabad emissary Rabbi Eli Schlanger was also killed.
Arsen Ostrovsky, Executive Director of the Israel-based Israeli-Jewish Congress and head of the Australia-Israel and Jewish Affairs Council’s (AIJAC) Sydney office, was among those wounded in the mass shooting.
He posted a selfie of himself covered in blood moments after the attack began. Ostrovsky also shared photos of himself during the 7 October 2023 attack and during missile strikes from Yemen and Iran.
This prompted social media users to speculate that he is a crisis actor – or is being used by Tel Aviv as propaganda.
Meanwhile, Israeli media has attempted to pin the Bondi Beach shooting on Iran.
An Israeli security source cited by Haaretz said that Tel Aviv is increasingly convinced Iran “directed” the Sydney attack, alleging Tehran tried to carry out operations against Jewish targets in Australia in recent weeks.
i24News also reported that Israel is examining whether the attack was a response by Hezbollah to the assassination of its chief of staff, Haitham Ali al-Tabtabai, following similar reports that circulated by Israeli Army Radio and Israel Hayom.
After Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the shooting, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said, “The world record in deception belongs to Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman. Iran has carried out deadly terrorist attacks against Israelis and Jews in the past and constantly seeks to murder Israelis and Jews around the world.”
In late October, the Mossad claimed it thwarted several Iranian-led “terrorist plots” to target Jews in Australia, Greece, and Germany between 2024 and 2025.
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