Jerome Sokolofsky

Hundreds of Jews were at Bondi Beach in Sydney for an event called Hanukkah by the Sea.

The gunmen opened fire from a bridge nearby.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar drew a link between the attack and protests in Australia against the war in Gaza.

He says calls at those protests to, quote, globalize the Intifada incited the attack.

President Isaac Herzog said Israel has repeatedly called on Australia to take action against what he called an enormous wave of anti-Semitism there.

And Yad Vashem, the National Holocaust Museum, says the tragedy reflects the growing and very real threat facing Jewish communities, not only in Australia, but around the world.

Jerome Sokolofsky, NPR News, Tel Aviv.

The Israeli military has been attacking sites in Lebanon despite a ceasefire last year.

The attacks are responses to what Israel says are attempts by Hezbollah to rearm.

A military spokesman says the plans for an airstrike on a site about 15 miles north of the two countries' border were temporarily frozen after the Lebanese army said it would go in and inspect it.

The move comes after both countries sent civilian envoys to a U.S.-led military committee that is monitoring the ceasefire.

Washington has demanded that Israel and Lebanon cooperate more in pursuit of regional stability.

Jerome Sokolofsky, NPR News, Tel Aviv.

This will be the fifth time Netanyahu visits the White House since President Trump's current term began in January.

An Israeli government spokesperson says the meeting will take place on December 29th and that the prime minister will stay in Washington until after the new year.

Netanyahu said on Sunday that he wants to use the meeting to talk about how to end Hamas rule in Gaza.

Fighting in Gaza has continued sporadically despite a ceasefire in October.

But a Hamas leader told NPR in Qatar that if there are negotiations leading to a Palestinian state, the group would agree to not use its weapons against Israel.

Jerome Sokolovsky, NPR News, Tel Aviv.