![\"Members](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/members-of-the-bondi-community-pay-their-respects-during-a-r-A2MXCLPQRRHOXMLP3BIQN5XBNY.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHundreds of surfers and beach goers have returned to Bondi’s waters to pay tribute to those killed in a horrifying mass shooting.<\/p>\n
Australia’s most famous beach has reopened after gunmen opened fire on Sunday’s Hanukkah celebrations, killing 15 people.<\/p>\n
Images of the dead and grieving have shocked the world but the local and international community are determined not to let the terror attack divide them.<\/p>\n
Just a few hundred metres away from the scene of the massacre, surfers, paddle boarders, and others converged in massive circles off the shores of Bondi in a show of solidarity.<\/p>\n
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Members of the Bondi community pay their respects during a reflection before paddling out to honour victims, survivors and first responders of the December 14th Bondi Attacks on December 19, 2025 (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n
“It’s just beautiful,” Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin told ABC.<\/p>\n
“It’s a gorgeous day and you see that scene – I’ve seen paddle outs before, but never of that size.”<\/p>\n
More than AU$5 million (NZ$5.7 million) has been donated across various fundraisers, with more than 70,000 donations from people in more than 60 countries made to verified pages for victims, GoFundMe said.<\/p>\n
This includes includes AU$2.5 million (NZ$2.8 million) for Bondi hero Ahmed Al Ahmed,<\/a> who wrestled a firearm from one of the gunmen<\/a> before being shot twice in the arm.<\/p>\n “I deserve it?” he asked, as he was presented with the oversized cheque.<\/p>\n In a video posted to social media, he urged people across the world to “stand with each other, all human beings and forget everything bad … keep going to save lives”.<\/p>\n The Police Association of NSW has also set up appeals for two officers injured in the attack, including one who could lose his vision permanently, that have reached nearly AU$750,000 (NZ$858,000). <\/p>\n More than 25,000 blood donations have been made since an appeal for help from Lifeblood in the wake of the attack.<\/p>\n About 90,000 Lifeblood appointments have been booked across Australia in a record-breaking show of support.<\/p>\n “We’ve seen nothing short of a tsunami of generosity and decency come our way to help boost supplies and help those in hospitals, from every corner of the country,” Lifeblood spokeswoman Jemma Falkenmire told AAP.<\/p>\n In this aerial view, members of the Bondi community paddle and swim into the ocean and form a circle to pay respect during a Paddle Out to honour victims, survivors and first responders of the December 14th Bondi Shootings on December 19, 2025 (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n “What began as a frighteningly large (need for blood) on Sunday night … has become a full-scale and national operation to accept thousands of generous gifts of blood.”<\/p>\n Those injured in the attack continue to be discharged from Sydney hospitals, with 16 still receiving care.<\/p>\n One is in a critical condition and four are listed by NSW Health as critical but stable.<\/p>\n The Australian National Imams Council has issued a message of togetherness for all preachers to incorporate in their sermons during Friday prayers.<\/p>\n “Islam calls believers to be builders of unity and peace, not agents of division and harm,” the council said.<\/p>\n “This is a time for unity, not division; for compassion, not hatred; and for standing together as one nation.”<\/p>\n The Jewish Council of Australia, which has been critical of the Albanese government’s efforts to address growing anti-Semitism, said grief should not be politicised or used as a weapon to sow division.<\/p>\n “This is a week of profound grief for Jewish people and the entire nation,” the council said.<\/p>\n “No policy response from the government should lose sight of the human cost of this violence.”<\/p>\n![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/in-this-aerial-view-members-of-the-bondi-community-paddle-an-3RTPT6SJFJBS7KHPX2SQ5SQGUU.jpg\")
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