Australian Premier Albanese holds phone call with Israel's Herzog

By Berk Kutay Gokmen

ISTANBUL (AA) – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday held a phone call with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in the wake of a mass shooting at Sydney’s Bondi beach.

Albanese expressed his “profound shock and dismay” over the incident, which took place on Dec. 14 in Sydney, Australia’s biggest city by population, and conveyed his “deep sorrow” to the relatives of the victims, according to a statement posted by the Australian prime minister on US social media company X.

He also extended an invitation to Herzog to visit Australia.

For his part, Herzog said that he would accept the invitation, and expressed his "profound shock and dismay” over the mass shooting, and conveyed his “heartfelt condolences” to the victims' families, according to a statement on his X account.

A man and his son opened fire on the beach in Sydney on Dec. 14, killing 15 people and injuring 42 others during a festival for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Police described the incident as a "terrorist attack."

One of the two shooters was killed, while the other was critically injured.