By Byron Kaye and Pete Mckenzie

SYDNEY, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Days after Hamas attacked Israel in ​2023, killing some 1,200 people and sparking the ​war in Gaza, an inverted red triangle was spray-painted on the front of a Jewish bakery in ⁠Sydney, the first of a string of antisemitic incidents in Australia.

Sixteen months and thousands of arson, firebombing, graffiti and hate-speech incidents later, the head of the nation's main intelligence agency ​declared that antisemitism was his number one priority in terms of threat ‍to life.

By Christine Chen

SYDNEY, Dec 14 (Reuters) - A bystander captured on video tackling and disarming ​an armed man during an attack in ​which 12 people were shot dead at a Jewish holiday event at Sydney's Bondi Beach ⁠on Sunday has been hailed as a hero whose actions potentially saved lives.

Footage circulating on social media shows a man in a car park wearing a white ​shirt running up to a man in a dark shirt who ‍is holding a rifle. He then ​tackles the armed man from behind, wrenching the rifle from him with his hands before pointing the gun back at the man.

SYDNEY, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Twelve people were killed and around ​a dozen wounded when gunmen ​opened fire during a Jewish holiday event at Sydney's Bondi ⁠Beach on Sunday, Australian officials said.

Following are comments from world leaders in the wake of the deadly shooting:

ANTHONY ALBANESE, ​PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA

"The scenes in Bondi ‍are shocking and distressing. Police ​and emergency responders are on the ground working to save lives. My thoughts are with every person affected."

SUSSAN LEY, OPPOSITION LEADER OF AUSTRALIA

By Kirsty Needham, Stella Qiu and Alasdair Pal

SYDNEY, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Ten people were killed and around a dozen wounded after two ​gunmen opened fire during a Jewish holiday event at Sydney's Bondi Beach ​on Sunday, Australian officials said.

One suspected gunman was dead and the other in a critical condition, while 11 injured people were taken to local hospitals, police ⁠in New South Wales state said. Two police officers were also among the injured.

By Menna AlaaElDin and Muhammad Al Gebaly

CAIRO, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Hamas' ​chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya said ​on Sunday that a targeted assassination by Israel on Saturday of ⁠one of the group's senior commanders threatens the "viability of the truce" in the enclave.

In a televised address, Hayya, who is also ​exile Gaza Hamas chief, confirmed the killing of ‍the group's senior commander Raed ​Saed in an Israeli strike a day earlier.

By Friederike Heine and Matthias Williams

BERLIN, Dec 14 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Sunday for ​a "dignified" peace and guarantees that Russia would not ​attack Ukraine again as he prepared to meet U.S. envoys and European allies in Berlin to ⁠end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two.

Under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to sign a peace deal that initially backed Moscow's demands, Zelenskiy accused Russia of dragging ​out the war through deadly bombings of cities and Ukraine's power and ‍water supplies.

DUBAI, Dec ​14 (Reuters) - ​Iran's ⁠Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, will ​visit ‍Russia and ​Belarus in the ⁠next two to three days, foreign ministry ​spokesperson ⁠Esmail ⁠Baghaei said on Sunday.

Iranian ‌President Masoud ​Pezeshkian met Russian counterpart Vladimir ‍Putin in Turkmenistan ‌on ‌Friday.

(Reporting by Dubai NewsroomEditing by ⁠David Goodman)

Two American troops and a civilian interpreter were killed in central Syria on Saturday after an alleged member of the Islamic State (IS) group opened fire on a joint US-Syrian patrol, officials said.

"We mourn the loss of three Great American Patriots in Syria," US President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform, vowing "very serious retaliation."

Israel said it killed the head of weapons production in Hamas's military wing in a strike in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

The civil defence agency and medical sources in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory told AFP an Israeli strike killed five people in the Tel al-Hawa district, southwest of Gaza City.

Contacted by AFP, the army said there was only one strike conducted in the area which killed the top Hamas figure, Raad Saad.

CAIRO/JERUSALEM, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The Israeli military struck a car in ​Gaza City on Saturday carrying ​senior Hamas commander Raed Saed, one of the architects of the ⁠October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, according to an Israeli defence official and Israeli media.

The strike killed four people, according ​to Gaza health authorities. There was no immediate ‍confirmation from Hamas or medics ​whether Saed was among the dead.

The Israeli military said it had targeted a senior Hamas commander in Gaza City, without given a name or further details.