Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the killings had been motivated by “extremist ideology”. The alleged shooters, identified as Sajid Akram, 50, and his son Naveed, 24, had allegedly pledged allegiance to the ISIL terrorist group.
The video of bystander Ahmed al Ahmed, who was filmed fighting one of the attackers with one of the weapons used in the assault, has gone viral and the fruit shop owner has been hailed as a hero whose intervention saved many lives.
‘Recommit to our common humanity’
The U.N. human rights chief said the mass shooting served as another reminder of “hate crimes and rhetoric that are all too common in our world today.”
He added that it is time to “recommit to our common humanity and collectively fight this scourge.”
Türk said the deadly anti-Semitic attack must not be allowed to sow more hatred and division.
“I stand in solidarity with the victims and with those who bravely helped and protected them,” he concluded.
UNHCR chief Grandi urges solidarity to counter toxic scapegoating rhetoric
Asylum is becoming increasingly politicized as humanitarian funding is reduced, and it is in this context that reaffirming global support for refugees is essential, the head of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Monday.
At a key meeting on refugees in Geneva, UN High Commissioner Filippo Grandi said receiving countries hosting asylum seekers must be told: “You are not alone.”
“Solidarity saves lives,” Grandi insisted, noting the “endless atrocities” that have affected the world’s most vulnerable people, from Myanmar to Sudan to Ukraine.
He said it had been a year in which refugees were frequently vilified and scapegoated “with their suffering cynically used by traffickers for profit” as well as by politicians to win votes.
Grandi reflected on a year of repeated attacks on the 1951 Refugee Convention “and the institution of asylum itself.”
global compact
It has been almost a decade since the UN General Assembly agreed on the Global Compact on Refugees, to promote international solutions and support for host countries.
The agreement has produced commitments that have made a real difference in the lives of refugees and the communities that host them, Grandi insisted.
He said that since 2023 thousands of pledges have been made to support solutions for refugees, and more than $2.6 billion has already been provided to support more inclusive policies in host communities.
Going forward, the High Commissioner insisted that host countries would need 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 attacks targeted homes and other critical infrastructure over the weekend.
An update from the U.N. aid coordination office, OCHA, listed attacks on the port city of Odessa, Mykolaiv and Kherson, reportedly involving 300 missiles and drones.
Those strikes cut off electricity, water and heat to around a million people.
Aid teams also provided emergency shelter and protection to the population of Zaporizhzhia after an attack on Sunday morning injured several residents and damaged homes and a shopping centre.
“With freezing temperatures, help is urgent,” while critical services are restored, OCHA said in a statement.
Authorities report that between December 12 and Monday, hostilities and frontline attacks across the country killed at least nine civilians and injured more than 70, including three children.
The Odessa region suffered repeated attacks that injured six civilians and damaged energy infrastructure over the weekend. As a result, the city of Odessa, home to more than a million inhabitants, was left without electricity, heat and water.
Blackouts in Odessa
“Although power has been restored to some 100,000 consumers and water supply has resumed, 20,000 residents remain without heat as of this morning,” said UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq.
In the neighboring Mykolaiv region, the attacks damaged power supplies and injured five civilians, including a child.
The Kherson region has also been severely affected, with around two dozen civilians injured. In the city of Kherson, more than 40,000 residents remain without heat following damage to the combined heat and power plant earlier this month.
With temperatures falling around or below zero and snowfall reported in some parts of the country, attacks on critical energy infrastructure are causing widespread water and heating outages across the country, Haq added.
“Our humanitarian partners, with support from the United Nations, are providing hot meals, bottled water, shelter materials, water transportation and psychosocial support.”