New details emerge about Bondi Beach attack suspects

Police investigating Australia's Bondi Beach terror attack say Islamic State flags and improvised explosive devices were found in the car close to the scene. Authorities also confirmed they were looking into a trip the suspects took to the Philippines last month. At least 15 people were killed and injured in last weekend's anti-Semitic attack as they gathered to mark the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Let's take a listen now to the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaking earlier. There is evidence that this was inspired by a terrorist organisation by ISIS. Now some of the evidence which is being procured including the presence of Islamic State flags in the vehicle that has been seized are a part of that. Radical perversion of Islam is absolutely a problem. It is something that has been identified globally as a problem as well. I asked the Australian journalist Kirsten Needham what else is now known about the suspects? That's right, police have said today that the two gunmen, the 50-year-old father who died during the incident and the 24-year-old son who's in a critical condition in hospital, had travelled to the Philippines last month. The police don't know where they went in the Philippines or why but the reason this is interesting is the Philippines has long had Islamic State associated terrorist cells operating in the south of the country. So Philippines officials are now assisting Australian police with those inquiries. They've also come out and said they do think this is an Islamic State inspired terrorist attack and they pointed to two homemade Islamic State flags that were found in the car at the site. Now one of the suspected gunmen was known to police but not considered an immediate threat. Some are calling that an intelligence failure. What reactions have there been in Australia to that? There's been a lot of scrutiny of what Australia's intelligence agencies knew and when and the authorities have said today that the son was questioned by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, ASIO, in 2019 but they said that was because of his associates, not anything that he had done. So someone that this person was associated with was later charged and convicted. This person and all of their family members were questioned but there was not seen to be any threat at that point. That was 2019 but then in 2023, we've learned today, that was when the father was issued with a gun license and so there's a lot of scrutiny now about whether laws need to be changed to look at linking criminal and security intelligence with the police licensing of guns and whether the fact that he had been interviewed by ASIO should have been something that came up when the gun license was issued. Now, considering that the government has said they want tougher gun laws, what will that entail? That's right. The Prime Minister has been very quick in recent days to say that he thinks there needs to be tightening of gun laws. There's a raft of proposals on the board. One of them is that you would need to be an Australian citizen to buy a gun. At the moment, you don't need to do that. There may be restrictions on how many guns people can buy and the most ambitious reform that's been promoted by the New South Wales State Premier is, is there a way to link criminal intelligence with licensing so that when someone goes in to buy a gun to get a gun license, that people would look, authorities would look at not whether or not that person had a criminal record but whether they had ever come up on the radar of police or criminal investigators and looking into the nature of why they were being looked at. Now, just briefly, how would you describe the reaction of the public in Australia to this incident? It is very sombre here in Sydney and there's just heartbreaking scenes from Bondi Beach every day. There's a mound of flowers that grows and grows. People are coming down to pay respect and it's a scene of community mourning, people embracing each other and just the shock has set in. I was there on Sunday evening at the beach in the immediate aftermath where people had taken action, they'd run for their lives, they were still processing it but each day it's setting in that Australia's most loved beach is not a symbol of summer anymore, it's a symbol of tragedy, of a mass shooting and those things are very rare in Australia, so it's a city in mourning. The journalist Kirsty Needham there reporting from Sydney for us, thank you. Well, let's cross over to Sydney now where journalist Katie Silver is covering this story. Katie, thanks so much for joining us again here on DW. The Australian Prime Minister has now said that the shooting appears to have been motivated by Islamic State ideology. What more can you tell us about this? Yes, Naveen Akram, the son who was involved in the killing, a 24-year-old assailant, he posted a video back in 2019 pledging his allegiance to Islamic State that has emerged in the last 24 hours. It was found by Australia's public broadcast, the ABC, and there is indication for example there were two flags found as well in the car of father and son of Islamic State, so there now does seem to be an indication that was the motive. There is no clear link between the Islamic State and the pair but it does seem to have been motivated by that in at this stage in the inquiry. And what have the reactions been like from people in Sydney a day after the attack now? There's a lot of sadness and a lot of anger. So I was here until the wee hours last night and we could see down there a vigil where everybody laid flowers, there was a lot of singing, a lot of clapping, traditional Jewish songs as well as an Australian anthem. Rabbis lit the menorah and they also spoke to people about the community and there was a sense of solidarity. But there's also a real very prevalent sense of anger. There was a report earlier this year that was commissioned by the government. It found that there was a real sense of anti-Semitism in Australia at present and that there was threats to the Jewish community. We also saw a synagogue attacked late last year. So there is a sense now, particularly amongst the Jewish community, of anger that not enough was done. Why the gun laws are the way they have been and that does seem to also be permeating as well. We're hearing increasing criticism. Just a short time ago we saw Israel's ambassador to Australia down here saying, why is it that only Jewish people have CCTV when they approach their places of worship? Why the doors need to be closed? Why they face fears of safety when other religions here don't? So the government has said that they're considering tougher gun laws. What would that actually entail? Well it would mean, for example, a centralised register where anyone who has a gun licence is in that register. I think many Australians would be surprised that's not already happening. There would also be a periodic reviewing of gun licences as well as, I think, making sure that certain people don't have too many. One expert I was hearing from earlier was saying, how is it that somebody in suburban Sydney had six gun licences? So keeping that more on track as well as, I guess, the type of guns that people have. Now getting this over the line is going to be challenging. We already saw the Prime late yesterday but there has been some opposition voiced already. For example, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, which is one of the territories or states here in Australia, has said that it has to work for her territory as well and that they don't, for example, face similar issues like we do here in Sydney when it comes to potential issues with guns. And so that's going to be one of the challenges for him as well. And then I also want to ask you, one of the suspected gunmen was known to police but he wasn't considered an immediate threat. Some observers are calling that an intelligence failure. What reactions have there been in Australia to that? Yeah, so he was investigated, Naveem Akram was investigated back in 2019 and at that point they said that they didn't see him as a credible threat. As you mentioned, a lot of criticism of the security agency, the ASIO, as to whether or not they did enough due diligence. Many as well, of course, blaming the Prime Minister, saying that the buck stops at the top level of leadership. And so it is something that people are very much, is going to form a very significant part of this inquiry, working out exactly how that could have been missed. Okay, journalist Katie Silver in Sydney, thank you so much for all of your insights there.