The horrifying testimonies from the Bondi Beach massacre continue to emerge. On Tuesday evening, Sky News Australia reported the final moments of Rabbi Eli Schlanger before he was shot to death by the two suspects in the shooting attack that occurred earlier this week.
In his final moments, Rabbi Eli Schlanger raised his hands, walked toward the gunman as he reloaded his weapon, and pleaded with him to stop shooting. Moments later, he was murdered. His wife, Chaya, was shot in the back. Their two-month-old baby, Shimshy, remains hospitalized with shrapnel injuries.
Surla, a close friend of Chaya, revealed that the condition of two-month-old Shimshy has not yet fully stabilized after shrapnel fragments hit his calf. "He's still not out of danger," she said. "The very horror and malice of someone shooting at babies, women, and elderly people – it's terrifying," she added.
Chaya was also injured in the attack, but in the chaos, she didn't realize she had been hit. "Chaya hid and tried to protect herself and especially her two-month-old baby, and she doesn't remember being hit due to the adrenaline, until suddenly someone standing next to her said: 'You have blood on your back,'" Surla recounted. Their two-month-old son is now recovering at the children's hospital, and Surla praised the "unbelievable" support from the medical staff.
In the horrific events of that day, Chaya was forced to watch her husband, a father of five children, being shot to death. "At the same time, Chaya was hit by a bullet; she also tried to keep her husband alive and begged a local nurse and a surfer who was at the scene to continue performing CPR on him," Surla said.
"We had to evacuate her for medical treatment, but she kept saying: 'Wake up, Eli, you have to wake up.' Eli believed in miracles, and she told him, 'Make us miracles, you can't leave me, I have five children, I can't handle this alone.' It was heartbreaking to watch."
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns admitted last night in an interview with Sky News that only two police officers were present at the Hanukkah celebrations at Bondi Beach before the terror attack that claimed the lives of 15 innocent people. "Police were instructed to be present during the festival," he said. "To my understanding, there were two police officers in the park during the shooting or at its beginning, during the murders, and there were also police in the area, so a patrol car arrived at the scene within moments of the start of the shooting."
Meanwhile, a UN expert called for an "independent investigation" to examine whether Australian authorities could have prevented the horrific massacre. Ben Saul, the UN Special Rapporteur on the protection of human rights in the context of countering terrorism, said any investigation should also examine whether the response of law enforcement authorities "was sufficiently rapid and effective."
