Officials around world tighten security for holiday events in wake of massacre on Australian beach

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed Monday to further tighten Australia’s already strict firearms laws, a day after at least 15 people celebrating Hanukkah were gunned down at a popular beach in what authorities said was an antisemitic terrorist attack.

Cabinet officials agreed that “strong, decisive, and focused actions” about firearms were needed as an immediate response to the mass shooting at Australia’s iconic Bondi Beach near Sydney.

“The government is prepared to take whatever actions is necessary, [and] included in that is the need for tougher gun laws,” Mr. Albanese said.

The government will immediately commence work on additional restrictions on importing firearms and other weapons, including those manufactured by 3D printers or those capable of holding large amounts of ammunition. Further plans include limiting the number of firearms that can be owned, accelerating the implementation of a national firearms registry and banning non-Australian citizens from holding a firearms license, officials said.

The shooting has fueled charges that Mr. Albanese’s government hasn’t done enough to tackle a rise in antisemitic incidents in Australia since the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of Israel by Hamas and the war in the Gaza Strip.

On Sunday, thousands of people flocked to Bondi Beach, including hundreds gathered for the annual “Chanukah by the Sea” celebration marking the start of the Jewish holiday. Authorities said the gunmen, a 50-year-old man and his son, 24, moved toward the event and began firing.

Police shot the gunmen. The older man died at the scene, and his son remains hospitalized, officials said.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino, a New York Republican who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, said he was in close contact with U.S. officials at every level of law enforcement to ensure the security of Jewish communities after the massacre in Australia.

“Antisemitism and the acts of evil it inspires are a global scourge and on the rise in our communities,” Mr. Garbarino said in a statement. “We must remain vigilant and united in combating the surge in this vile hatred whenever it is found.”

The 25 Jewish members of the House of Representatives released a statement saying they were in solidarity with Australia’s besieged Jewish community.

“Sadly, this attack does not come as a surprise to the Jewish community of Sydney, who have been raising a clarion call for local and national authorities to take concrete steps against a rising tide of antisemitism,” said the bipartisan statement signed by Republicans such as Rep. Randy Fine of Florida and Democrats such as Rep. Brad Sherman of California.

“Antisemitism is a cancer that eats at the core of society, whether in Australia, the United States, or anywhere it is allowed to take root and grow,” the statement said. “Jews around the world will continue to gather this week to celebrate Hanukkah and its story of religious freedom and defiant optimism.”

Jilliam Segal, the Australian government’s special envoy to combat antisemitism, said the shooting wasn’t without warning. She said it followed several violent marches at iconic locations such as the Sydney Opera House, where protesters waved terrorist flags and glorified extremist leaders.

“It’s been seeping into society for many years, and we have not come out strongly enough against it,” Ms. Segal said during an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “The messaging has not been sufficient, and the education has not been sufficient, for people to understand what antisemitism is and how it destroys the community.”

The shooting has prompted government officials in other countries to either curtail or outright ban holiday events. France will tighten security around Christmas markets after a “very high” terrorist threat, officials said.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez ordered French officials to treat festival gatherings as high-risk targets and to plan accordingly.

Expensive security measures to combat terrorist attacks prompted officials in some German cities to cancel Christmas markets. The group organizing the festival in Overath, approximately 30 miles east of Cologne, cannot afford the additional security measures required, including hiring extra personnel and cordoning off the area, said German newspaper Die Welt.

Christmas markets are also being shuttered in Kerpen and Bonn after Islamist terrorist attacks at Christmas markets in Berlin and Magdeburg, which resulted in a total of 19 deaths.

“More than 2,000 Christmas markets take place in Germany,” Die Welt reported. “Christmas markets in other cities have also been cancelled, but for different reasons. For example, due to insufficient income for stall operators or due to renovation works at a castle, as in Dortmund.”

Equipping the Persecuted, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that provides support to persecuted Christians in Nigeria, said last week that it was told Nigerian government officials intercepted plans for a mass Christmas Day attack on Christian communities by Islamic radicals.

“On a day that we remember a ‘thrill of hope’ for our weary world to rejoice over the birth of our Lord and Savior, Christians living in the Middle Belt of Nigeria are on the precipice of a bloody massacre,” Equipping the Persecuted officials said in a statement.

U.S. officials are increasing their security presence at Jewish events and locations. The New York Police Department said late Sunday that it was “closely monitoring” the attack at Bondi Beach and was in close contact with its Australian partners.

“While there is currently no specific or credible threat to Hanukkah celebrations here, the N.Y.P.D. will be out in full force at events and synagogues so that our communities can gather safely,” officials said in a statement. “We are deploying additional resources to public Hanukkah celebrations and synagogues out of an abundance of caution.”

Jonathan Greenblatt, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said security has always been a major concern with armed guards and bulletproof glass at synagogues and community centers.

“You can never build walls that are high enough. But, we also shouldn’t have to,” Mr. Greenblatt said in a statement. “Being Jewish in 2025 — wherever you are — shouldn’t put a target on your back.”

The Jewish Federations of North America said security initiatives in Canada and the United States were on high alert, and each organization is in regular contact with its local security directors.

“While we will continue to do everything in our power to protect the safety of every Jew and every community, the primary responsibility for the security of every American and Canadian in their homes, in their places of worship, and in their communal gatherings — including when we gather in public spaces to celebrate Jewish holidays, belongs to the government,” officials said in a statement. “We hold them responsible and accountable for protecting our community during this holiday of Hanukkah and always.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed that the Justice Department and the FBI thwarted what could have been a “massive and horrific terror plot” in the Los Angeles area with the recent arrest of the Turtle Island Liberation Front. She said the far-left and pro-Palestinian group was preparing to conduct a campaign of New Year’s Eve bombings against multiple targets, including against ICE agents and their vehicles.