JERUSALEM, Israel – In Sydney, Australia, hundreds of Jews gathered on Sunday afternoon to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah. That’s when three terrorists, including a father and a son, murdered at least 16 people in cold blood and wounded more than 40.
It’s being called the Hanukkah Massacre of 2025.
The killing spree sent hundreds fleeing for their lives. Dozens of videos spread scenes of the horrible mass slaughter around the world, nearly in real time.
Australian Christian Abilgail Crombie-Hedding told CBN News, “You’re seeing videos. You’re seeing photos much quicker than you would have seen in previous attacks.
Crombie-Hedding added, “So, you’re watching it kind of happening in real time. And to just feel that helplessness that there’s nothing you can do to them, you can just watch, and it’s just horrible. And yeah, I just felt like, completely shaken and just sick to my stomach.”
One picture epitomizes the horror of the massacre on Sydney’s Bondi Beach: the bloodied face of Arsem Ostrovsky, an international lawyer who moved to Australia just two weeks earlier. Australia’s Channel 9 News interviewed Ostrovsky moments after the shooting spree.
“It was absolute chaos. We didn’t know what was happening, where the gunfire was coming from,” Ostrovsky recalled.
“I saw blood coming from me. I saw people hit. I saw people fall to the ground,” he added. “My only concern was my kids. Where are my kids? Where’s my wife, my family? I survived October 7th. I lived in Israel the last 13 years. We came here just two weeks ago to work with the Jewish community, to fight antisemitism, to fight this bloodthirsty, ravaging hatred.”
Watch as CBN News’ Chris Mitchell and Joshua Swanson discuss the Hanukkah Massacre from Jerusalem.
Ostrovsky is a friend of CBN News. We interviewed him just two months ago in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square, just before the release of the remaining living hostages.
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The dead in Sydney include a Holocaust survivor and a child. Several of the wounded are fighting for their lives.
The attackers: a father and son. The son was reportedly investigated for ties to ISIS in 2019. The father died in the attack. Israel and Australia are also investigating whether Iran had any role in the attack.
There are also heroes. Video shows one man, reportedly a Muslim fruit shop owner, seizing one of the attackers and taking his gun.
Australia has seen a surge in antisemitic incidents since the 2023 October 7th invasion by Hamas. Jews have been attacked, and synagogues and cars have been set on fire in major cities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday read from a letter he sent to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier this year, criticizing him for appeasement of global antisemitism after Albanese called for a Palestinian state.
“Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire,” Netanyahu said. “It rewards Hamas terrorists. It emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew hatred now stalking your streets.”
The prime minister continued, “Antisemitism is a cancer. It spreads when leaders stay silent; it retreats when leaders act. I call upon you to replace weakness with action, appeasement with resolve.”
President Trump condemned the mass shooting as a “purely antisemitic attack.”
Crombie-Hedding told us the massacre is a wake-up call for the Church.
“I’ve been involved, and particularly my family, with creating ties between the Jewish community and the Christian community,” she stated. “Obviously, in the past, things haven’t been always the best. But I think since October 7th, there’s been several movements in Australia and elsewhere in the world to try and create unity between the groups. And I think this is a really important opportunity for Christian leaders, for pastors, for churches to just step up and say that this is not okay.”
The Australia massacre took place on the first day of the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah. Communities across the globe are on high alert as the 8-day holiday continues.
