UN News Today 15 December 2025 |

UN Secretary-General condemns deadly attack on Hannukah celebration in Sydney

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned the “heinous deadly attack” against Jewish families gathered in Sydney, Australia, to celebrate Hanukkah.

In a social media post, Mr. Guterres said he was “horrified” by the incident on Sunday at the city’s Bondi Beach area.

At least 11 people were killed when two gunmen – identified as a father and his son – opened fired on the Hanukkah celebration, which authorities have called a terrorist attack.

Two of the victims were police officers, according to media reports. One of the gunmen was killed and the other was taken into custody. Australia’s Prime Minister said the attackers had been motivated by “extremist ideology”.

The Secretary-General expressed solidarity with the people and Government of Australia, with the Jewish community in the country and worldwide, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq also said.

Attacks on religious communities and peaceful celebrations “strike at the core values of tolerance, coexistence and human dignity,” Mr. Haq’s statement continued.

UNHCR chief Grandi urges solidarity to counter toxic scapegoat rhetoric

Asylum is increasingly politicized, and humanitarian funding is shrinking; it’s against this backdrop that reaffirming global support for refugees is essential, the head of the UN refugee agency said on Monday.

Speaking at a key meeting on refugees in Geneva, UN High Commissioner Filippo Grandi said that host countries who take in asylum seekers need to be told: “You are not alone.”

“Solidarity saves lives,” Mr. Grandi insisted, as he pointed to “unending atrocities” that have impacted the world’s most vulnerable people, from Myanmar to Sudan and Ukraine.

“A year when refugees were frequently vilified, scapegoated in so many places. With their suffering cynically used by traffickers for profit, and their situation by politicians to gain votes for the next election. A year of repeated attacks on the 1951 Refugee Convention and on the very institution of asylum.”

It is almost a decade since the UN General Assembly agreed to the Global Compact on Refugees, to boost international solutions and support for host countries.

The agreement has produced commitments that have made a real difference in the lives of refugees and of the communities hosting them, Mr. Grandi insisted.

He said that since 2023, thousands of pledges have been made to support refugee solutions, with more than $2.6 billion already provided in support of more inclusive policies in host communities.

In future, the High Commissioner insisted that host countries needed more help to strengthen their support systems for people uprooted from their homes.

Ukraine: Aid teams respond as Russian attacks continue

In Ukraine, UN-supported aid partners continued to offer a lifeline to at-risk communities on Monday, after widespread Russian strikes targeted homes and other critical infrastructure over the weekend.

An update from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, listed attacks in the port city of Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson, reportedly involving 300 missiles and drones.

Those strikes cut off electricity, water and heating to around one million people.

Aid teams also provided shelter and emergency protection to people in Zaporizhzhia after an attack on Sunday morning injured several residents, damaging homes and a shopping centre.

“With freezing temperatures, the aid is urgent”, while critical services are restored, OCHA said in a statement.

Charlotte Frantz, UN News.