Man charged with 59 offences after Bondi Beach attack

A man who allegedly opened fire on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Sydney's Bondi Beach has been charged with 59 offences, including murder and terrorism.

The alleged father-and-son perpetrators opened fire during the celebration on Sunday, killing 15 people, in an attack that shook Australia and intensified fears of rising anti-Semitism and violent extremism.

Funerals of the Jewish victims of the attack began today, amid anger over how the gunmen - one of whom was briefly investigated for links to extremists - were allowed access to powerful firearms.

Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene, while his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram woke from a coma in a Sydney hospital yesterday afternoon after also being shot by police.

New South Wales Police said today that a man had been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of wounding with attempt to murder, as well as a terror offence and other charges.

"Police will allege in court the man engaged in conduct that caused death, serious injury and endangered life to advance a religious cause and cause fear in the community," it said in a statement.

"Early indications point to a terrorist attack inspired by ISIS, a listed terrorist organisation in Australia."

A court filing named Naveed Akram as the man charged.

He will appear via video link before a local court on Monday morning.

The father and son had travelled to the southern Philippines, a region long plagued by Islamist militancy, weeks before the shooting that Australian police said appeared to be inspired by the so-called Islamic State.

However, the Philippines said there was no evidence that the country was being used for terrorist training.

"[President Ferdinand Marcos] strongly rejects the sweeping statement and the misleading characterisation of the Philippines as the ISIS training hotspot," presidential spokeswoman Claire Castro said.

"There is no validated report or confirmation that individuals involved in the Bondi Beach incident received any form of training in the Philippines."

The leader of the Australian state of New South Wales said that he will recall parliament next week to pass wide-ranging reforms of gun and protest laws, days after the country's deadliest mass shooting in three decades.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said state parliament would return on 22 December to hear "urgent" reforms, including capping the number of firearms allowed by a single person and making certain types of shotguns harder to access.

The state government will also look at reforms making it harder to hold large street protests after terror events, in order to prevent further tensions.

"We've got a monumental task in front of us. It's huge," he said.

"It's a huge responsibility to pull the community together. I think we need a summer of calm and togetherness, not division."

Funerals for Jewish victims begin

The funeral for Rabbi Eli Schlanger, an assistant rabbi at Chabad Bondi Synagogue and a father of five, has taken place in Sydney.

He was known for his work for Sydney's Jewish community through Chabad, a global organisation fostering Jewish identity and connection.

Rabbi Schlanger would travel to prisons and meet with Jewish people living in Sydney's public housing communities, Jewish leader Alex Ryvchin said.

Other shooting victims included a Holocaust survivor, a husband and wife who first approached the gunmen before they started firing, and a 10-year-old girl named Matilda, according to interviews, officials and media reports.

Matilda's father told a Bondi vigil last night that he did not want his daughter's legacy to be forgotten.

"We came here from Ukraine … and I thought that Matilda is the most Australian name that can ever exist. So just remember the name, remember her," local media reported him as saying.

Read: What we know so far about victims of Bondi Beach attack

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is facing criticism that his centre-left government did not do enough to prevent the spread of anti-Semitism in Australia during the two-year Israel-Gaza war.

"We will work with the Jewish community, we want to stamp out and eradicate anti-Semitism from our society," Mr Albanese told reporters.

The government and intelligence services are also under pressure to explain why Sajid Akram was allowed to legally acquire the high-powered rifles and shotguns used in the attack.

The government has already promised sweeping reforms to gun laws.

Naveed Akram, meanwhile, was briefly investigated by Australia's domestic intelligence agency in 2019 over alleged links to Islamic State, but there was no evidence at the time he posed a threat, Mr Albanese said.

Hero to undergo surgery

Mr Albanese said Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, the man who tackled one of the shooters to disarm his rifle and suffered gunshot wounds, was due to undergo surgery.

Mr Al-Ahmed's uncle, Mohammed al-Ahmed in Syria, said his nephew left his hometown in Syria's northwest province of Idlib nearly 20 years ago to seek work in Australia.

"We learned through social media. I called his father and he told me that it was Ahmed. Ahmed is a hero, we're proud of him. Syria in general is proud of him," he said.

The family of 22-year-old police officer Jack Hibbert, who was shot twice on Sunday and had been on the force for just four months, said in a statement he had lost vision in one eye and faced a "long and challenging recovery" ahead.

"In the face of a violent and tragic incident, he responded with courage, instinct, and selflessness, continuing to protect and help others whilst injured, until he was physically no longer able to," the family said.

Health authorities said 22 people were still being treated in hospital.

In Bondi, swimmers gathered on Sydney's most popular beach and held a minute's silence. A New Year's Eve party due to be held on the beach was cancelled by organisers.

"This week has obviously been very profound, and this morning, I definitely feel a sense of the community getting together, and a sense of everyone sitting together," Archie Kalaf, a 24-year-old Bondi man, said.

"Everyone's grieving, everyone's understanding and processing it in their own way."