New South Wales authorities announced the decision to lay the charges against the 24-year-old Naveed Akram on Wednesday. "Following extensive inquiries under Operation Arques … investigators attended a hospital where they charged a 24-year-old Bonnyrigg man with 59 offences." Akram, who was injured by law enforcement officials when they intervened in the shooting, was admitted to a hospital and was in a coma, preventing proper questioning. On Tuesday morning, he woke up and the case was heard in court the following afternoon.

"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," police said in a statement referencing the report. "Early indications point to a terrorist attack inspired by ISIS, a listed terrorist organisation in Australia."

The defendant did not seek release on bail and is set for a subsequent hearing on April 8. The docket includes 40 counts of wounding with intent to kill, positioning an explosive device, discharging a firearm to inflict grievous bodily injury, and exhibiting a terrorist symbol.

Akram and his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram targeted a gathering marking the commencement of Hanukkah at Bondi Beach on Sunday. Police revealed that Sajid – who was killed by officers during the incident – had legally acquired the weaponry deployed in the assault. The rampage claimed 15 lives, including that of a 10-year-old child, leaving another 20 victims in hospital care as of Wednesday. Officials designated the tragedy a terrorist act on the night of the occurrence.

The legal action against Naveed arrived one day after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese observed that the Sunday attack appeared to be motivated by the Islamic State, the report concluded.

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Multiple law enforcement sources confirmed to the publication that Naveed Akram, 24, and his father, Sajid, had traveled to the Southeast Asian nation in November. The Australian Federal Police is reportedly investigating their movements within that country and the reasons behind the trip, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

Authorities are also scrutinizing the pair's potential ties to Islamic State terror ideology after a flag was located in their vehicle at Bondi Beach following the shooting, alongside improvised explosive devices, Nine News reported.

The Islamic State of East Asia (ISEA), a regional branch of the terror group, has been listed as a proscribed terrorist organization by the Australian government since 2017.

"While there are no known links between ISEA and Australia, there have previously been links between Australians and terrorist groups in the Philippines," a briefing document reads.

Security cameras recorded the moment the terrorists launched their plan to massacre Sydney's Jewish community on Sunday, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. This occurred while their family operated under the false belief that the pair was visiting Jervis Bay for the weekend.

In reality, the duo was concealed within a small, grey brick home in Campsie, a short-term rental property that offers nightly accommodation to travelers, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

"He rings me up [on Sunday] and said, 'Mum, I just went for a swim. I went scuba diving. We're going … to eat now, and then this morning, and we're going to stay home now because it's very hot'," Naveed's mother, Verena, said on Monday morning as police swarmed the family residence at Bonnyrigg, Nine News reported.

Video evidence shows one of the gunmen instructing bystanders to clear the area before opening fire on crowds from the pedestrian bridge connecting Campbell Parade and Bondi Pavilion, The Sydney Morning Herald noted.

CCTV footage secured by The Sydney Morning Herald and Nine News captures Sajid and subsequently Naveed departing from 103 Brighton Avenue, Campsie, at approximately 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, shortly after the phone call.

The second individual, identified as Naveed dressed in black, appears to manipulate an object in the rear of the vehicle before taking the driver's seat of the silver hatchback, according to the report.

The car pulls out and begins its 40-minute journey to the east, The Sydney Morning Herald stated. Less than 90 minutes later, the first shots were discharged at Bondi Beach.

New footage reveals the father and son hours before they allegedly carried out the terrorist attack, Nine News reported. Naveed, an unemployed bricklayer, and Sajid, a fruiterer, fired into a crowd gathered to celebrate Hanukkah and a Bar Mitzva.

The rampage resulted in 15 fatalities and numerous injuries. Sajid was fatally shot by police at the scene, while Naveed was also shot and remains in critical condition in the hospital, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Sources told the outlet that Naveed has awoken from his coma.

Police retrieved four weapons at the location and on Monday afternoon confiscated two additional firearms from the rented room in Campsie, Nine News noted. Officers entered and exited the home throughout the day, wearing ballistic vests until the evidence could be removed in large paper bags.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Monday that Sajid "arrived in 1998 on a student visa, transferred in 2001 to a partner visa and after trips overseas has been on resident return visas, which occurred three times".

Akram's mother was unable to identify her son from a photo taken at the shooting scene but stated she did not believe he could be involved in violent or extremist acts, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

"He doesn't have a firearm. He doesn't even go out. He doesn't mix around with friends. He doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke, he doesn't go to bad places … he goes to work, he comes home, he goes to exercise and that's it," she told this masthead.

"Anyone would wish to have a son like my son … he's a good boy."

Akram was searching for employment after being retrenched from his bricklaying job about two months prior, following his employer's insolvency, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Although he had many friends during high school at Cabramatta High School, he was not particularly social, Verena told the outlet. She noted he did not appear to spend significant time online, preferring fishing, scuba diving, swimming, and exercise.

Akram appeared to be tagged in a 2022 social media update indicating he had passed his Koran studies at Al-Murad Institute, which teaches Arabic and Koran studies in Heckenberg, western Sydney, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. The post has since been deleted. The man in the photograph, whom The Sydney Morning Herald chose not to identify, stated he had lost contact with Akram in early 2022.

"I am devastated by the images of the victims in Bondi," he said. The man indicated that he and his family had been forced to leave their home after receiving death threats, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

The report concluded that Akram's mother is a stay-at-home parent caring for her elderly mother, while Akram lived at the property with his parents and siblings in a three-bedroom home bought in 2024.

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The disclosure follows ABC's documentation of extensive connections between 24-year-old Naveed Akram and Australia's pro-Islamic State network, including associations with extremist cleric Wisam Haddad and imprisoned youth recruiter Youssef Uweinat, according to ABC.

Legal counsel for Haddad stated he "vehemently denies any knowledge of or involvement in the shootings that took place at Bondi Beach," ABC reported. Authorities are examining the Akrams' links to international jihadist networks after establishing their early November arrival in Manila, case-briefed officials disclosed to ABC.

The duo subsequently journeyed to the southern Philippines for terrorist training, a senior counter-terrorism official confirmed anonymously to ABC. Late November marked their return to Australia – mere weeks before Sunday's beachfront slaughter, officials told ABC.

Since the early 1990s, the Philippines has functioned as a terrorist hub, hosting training facilities relocated from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to southern Mindanao, ABC reported. Security sources have withheld specific location and movement details regarding the pair's time in the southern Philippines, according to ABC.

ASIO, the nation's intelligence service, investigated Naveed Akram in 2019 over his Sydney-based IS terrorist cell associations, ABC revealed Monday.

Ahmed, you are an Australian hero.

You put yourself at risk to save others, running towards danger on Bondi Beach and disarming a terrorist.

In the worst of times, we see the best of Australians. And that's exactly what we saw on Sunday night.

On behalf of every Australian, I… pic.twitter.com/mAoObU3TZD

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) December 16, 2025

The then-18-year-old displayed "indications of intent" and concerning connections prompting ASIO's 2019 investigation, though additional scrutiny was deemed unwarranted then, a senior security source told ABC. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese informed the 7.30 program Monday evening that ASIO's six-month probe uncovered "no evidence" of radicalization in either father or son, ABC reported.

Neither man appeared on terrorism watchlists before the assault, and licensed gun owner Sajid Akram encountered no legal barriers to firearm possession, according to ABC.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, questioned on Radio National today about whether the Philippines travel alerted national security agencies, provided no direct answer, ABC reported. Burke observed that following ASIO's 2019 inquiry, "there was a radical change in the risk profile of that individual," according to ABC.

Two Islamic State flags discovered in the Akrams' Bondi Beach vehicle led investigators to conclude the pair had pledged allegiance to the terrorist group, ABC disclosed Monday.

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Throughout the year he was held captive, Imad Amhaz, "The Captain," methodically laid out the complete picture behind one of Hezbollah's most secret and well-funded initiatives – a strategic, creative, and ambitious project that received the name "The Secret Maritime File." Only now can the existence of this underground project be revealed for the first time, along with new details about the commando operation to kidnap Amhaz from the heart of Lebanon – a daring and extraordinary operation that, due to the torrent of war events, remained buried in the depths of memory. Until now.

Nothing about the apparent IDF naval commando raid on Batroun to capture a single mid-level Hezbollah commander Imad Amhaz adds up.

The IDF doesn't seem to lack info from inside Hezbollah, and they have not been shy about eliminating targets with F-16s as they find them. Could… pic.twitter.com/MVVNbozbG4

— Saul Sadka (@Saul_Sadka) November 2, 2024

The codename: Jarih

A. is a 23-year-old woman, slim and quiet. If you passed her on the street, you wouldn't imagine she was the primary person responsible for one of the war's most impressive operations. She began her career as an "Arabist" in Unit 8200 and later transferred to Naval Intelligence as an analyst. Today, she's a permanent service member with the rank of staff sergeant, whose job is to track anyone who could pose a threat to Israeli Navy vessels.

The Israeli Navy's Shayetet 13 commando unit carried out a raid in northern Lebanon last night, capturing a Hezbollah official, the military confirms.

The Hezbollah operative, Imad Amhaz, is considered by the IDF to be a "significant source of knowledge" in the terror group's… pic.twitter.com/21GZJGcgkh

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 2, 2024

 "At Naval Intelligence, we have operational methods and capabilities that allow us to search for almost anyone's traces," she says.

At the end of 2021, A. began tracking a mid-level Hezbollah operative named Imad Amhaz, whose codename in the organization was Jarih. Amhaz, 39, a Shiite native of the Bekaa Valley, joined Hezbollah as an operative in 2004. In 2007, he completed a several-month military course in Iran, and upon returning to Lebanon, joined Unit 7900 – Hezbollah's shore-to-sea missile unit – as a radar operator. Since the Second Lebanon War and the fatal strike on the INS Hanit, this unit has greatly troubled Naval Intelligence personnel. He managed to assist the Assad regime forces in the Syrian civil war, and his brother was also a Hezbollah operative as a fighter in the Radwan Force.

In retrospect, it would become clear that a few months before A. began focusing on him, Amhaz was chosen as the central axis of Hezbollah's ambitious and secret project. Amhaz, it was decided at the organization's leadership level, would become the captain of "The Secret Maritime File" – "a strategic project, very secret, an event that could have changed the situation against us and also against other countries," says Colonel A., head of the Intelligence Division in the Navy.

"We can grab him"

After two years of surveillance, Naval Intelligence understood there was an opportunity to kidnap Amhaz and bring him for interrogation in Israel. "I realized we could grab him," says A., who initiated the idea. Her proposal advanced up the approval ladder with dizzying speed and received the prime minister's approval as well.

Naturally, the unit chosen to execute the kidnapping was Shayetet 13, the Navy's elite commando unit, which seemed born precisely for operations of this type. The Shayetet took the mission with both hands, extracted from A. all the intelligence she had to provide about Amhaz and his daily routine, and within just a few weeks prepared a detailed raid plan.

The plan was executed in early November 2023 and carried out with stunning success. Amhaz was kidnapped from the apartment where he was staying, approximately 140 kilometers north of the Israeli border, without a single shot being fired.

The full article will be published this weekend on the website and in the "Israel This Week" section.

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Since emigrating to Australia on a student visa in 1998, Akram – formerly residing in Hyderabad's Tolichowki area – rarely set foot in India, making the journey only "two-three occasions," authorities disclosed to The Hindu.

"His father died in 2017; he did not even come to attend his last rites," a senior government official reported to The Hindu. Other officials told The Hindu that Akram's close family members still live in Hyderabad, including an elder brother practicing medicine. The late father finished his UAE military career in 1984.

Naveed Akram – Sajid's son and the attack's second perpetrator – took police bullets and remains under medical care, The Hindu learned. Born in Australia in 2001, he holds Australian nationality. "After completing bachelors in commerce from Hyderabad, Akram moved to Australia and married a European woman. He retained his Indian passport," the official conveyed to The Hindu.

Asked about possible Indian ties, the source informed The Hindu, "Preliminary investigation does not establish any local links so far. We do not have access to his activities in Australia. His background was checked based on information from our sources."

Information verified by The Hindu indicates Australian investigators maintain active dialogue described as "in touch" with Indian officials about the examination.

Philippine immigration personnel disclosed Tuesday that Sajid Akram entered their territory on an Indian passport in November, accompanied by his Australian-national son Naveed Akram, The Hindu reported.

"Sajid Akram, 50, Indian national, and Naveed Akram, 24, Australian national, arrived in the Philippines together last November 1, 2025, from Sydney, Australia," announced Dana Sandoval, speaking for the Bureau of Immigration, to Manila news outlets Tuesday, per The Hindu.

The Ministry of External Affairs offered no statement regarding Philippine authorities' comments, The Hindu found. Officials stressed that Australian investigators bear the duty of providing probe particulars.

Australian investigators have so far withheld comment on the attackers' backgrounds, the report noted. When pressed whether Sajid Akram originated from India or Pakistan, as certain accounts proposed, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said such information forms part of the active investigation.

"So I can't go into that detail and it wouldn't be appropriate to undermine the investigation by going into it," Prime Minister Albanese addressed reporters Tuesday, according to The Hindu.

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A father and son opened fire on crowds and murdered 15 people during Hanukkah celebrations at Bondi Beach in Sydney. Fifteen people were murdered in the attack, and 38 were wounded, some critically. The victims ranged in age from 10 to 87, according to New South Wales Premier Chris Minns. Two of the wounded died overnight in Sydney hospitals.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Bondi Beach on Monday morning after ordering Australian flags lowered to half-mast following the attack. "Australia will not be divided by hate or violence," he wrote on X. "We will confront this head-on. And we will stand together in solidarity with Jewish Australians and with one another."

Memorial for the murdered Jews at the place of the massacre, Bondi Beach pic.twitter.com/PZZNZXvReQ

— Gameover (@EricS2075) December 15, 2025

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley accused Albanese of allowing antisemitism to "spread" and failing to protect Jewish Australians. "Everything must change from today," she said. "We have seen public sites become symbols of antisemitic hate. We have seen campuses occupied and Jewish students made to feel afraid. We have seen synagogues firebombed at the direction of foreign terror states."

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Deliberations on MK Limor Son Har-Melech's "death penalty for terrorists" bill commenced Monday morning before the National Security Committee under Chairman MK Zvika Fogel.

The Otzma Yehudit MKs' decision to come sporting noose-shaped lapel pins was supposed to show their determination to secure capital punishment for terrorists and conveying the message that "terrorists are condemned to die." The pin bears the same color as that worn over the past two years in solidarity with the Gaza hostages held by Hamas.

During the hearing, Ben-Gvir declared, "We all wore these pins, which represent one method we'll employ to carry out the terrorist death penalty statute. Naturally we have the guillotine option, the electric chair option, and lethal injection as well. Since reports emerged that physicians refused to participate in implementing the law, I've fielded 100 inquiries from doctors asking Itamar, just say when."

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The Sunni Islamist organization known as the Muslim Brotherhood emerged in Egypt in 1928 and temporarily secured political authority in the country in 2012, before being removed from power in a 2013 military overthrow.

The White House stated the designation aims to counter the organization's international network, which officials claim drives terrorism and destabilizing operations targeting American interests and regional allies throughout the Middle East. Documentation released alongside the directive points to relationships connecting Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood faction with Hamas, the organization behind the October 7, 2023, assault on Israel, along with additional purported associations with terrorist activities.

Financial assets held by these groups within the United States can now be targeted under the designation, while military intelligence collection on them becomes permissible, and individuals judged to have supplied "material support" to designated Muslim Brotherhood chapters face potential prosecution.

Within 45 days, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent must submit chapter recommendations for the terrorist classification, according to the directive. White House documentation indicated that branches operating in Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan number among those under consideration for designation.

During his initial presidential term, the Trump administration explored designating the organization as a terrorist entity following the president's meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, who assumed power through the 2013 military coup after removing his democratically elected predecessor, Mohamed Morsi, a prominent Muslim Brotherhood official. In 2013, Egypt classified the group as a terrorist organization, with multiple other Arab states following suit.

The current executive order differs from the first-term initiative by calling for the terrorist classification of individual Muslim Brotherhood chapters rather than the organization as a whole. While Muslim Brotherhood chapters maintain shared ideological principles, international organizational cohesion remains absent.

The Trump directive arrives one week following Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's parallel designation of the organization. Legislation introduced during the summer by a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Jared Moskowitz, similarly sought to establish such a classification.

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Passengers reported that the assault began approximately nine minutes after the train departed from Peterborough, prompting travelers to activate emergency alerts. Witnesses recounted scenes of passengers trampling others while some sought refuge in lavatory compartments, Sky News reported.

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Enat Angrest revealed that the terrorists debated whether it was "worth keeping him alive or giving up on him" because of his severe injury. In a video the family released from October 7, Angrest is shown being extracted from the tank, bent and kneeling on the ground, his military shirt pulled up and his chest exposed, being guided and held by terrorists.

Angrest added that the terrorists informed Matan they saw her on television and that she was "very dominant in the struggle" to bring him home. "Matan didn't know that an entire nation was crying and waiting for them. He believed there was a protest here and a protest there. He wasn't aware of the intensity of the publicity."

She also stated her son told her "I did what was expected of me as a soldier" and that he is proud of his decision to fight that morning, and that he considered the possibility he would be abducted.

Earlier, Matan and Einat met with President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Special Envoy for Middle East Steve Witkoff. They presented Witkoff with a photograph from Kiryat Bialik Mayor Eli Dukorsky of the city's soccer stadium that will be named after Trump. Matan is a resident of the city.

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