An attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Sunday killed 15 people and left Jewish communities reeling worldwide. The violence has also drawn attention to the resilience of Australia’s distinctive Jewish community,

At around 6:47 p.m., as the sun began to fade on a warm Sunday afternoon at Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach, the first gunshots rang out.

Meanwhile, the surviving suspect in Sunday's shootings on Bondi Beach is reported to be out of a coma in hospital.

By Scott Murdoch and Renju Jose SYDNEY, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Sydney will pause in grief on Wednesday as funerals begin for some of the 15 people killed in Australia’s deadliest mass shooting in three decades — a Jewish Hanukkah celebration-turned-tragedy that shook the nation and intensified fears of rising antisemitism and violent extremism.

A troubling rise in antisemitic attacks and incidents in recent years have left some feeling anger after the kind of deadly attack they felt was sure to happen.

The daughter of an American expatriate living about two miles from the mass killing at a Hanukkah celebration in suburban Sydney, Australia, escaped the carnage by coming home to change clothes, her mother said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said two gunmen who killed 15 people at a Jewish holiday celebration were motivated by the Islamic State.