The New Zealand Jewish Council has responded to the mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney during a Chanukah gathering.

More than 10 people have been shot dead, with  expectations of many more casualties, Sky News Australia reported.

“The New Zealand Jewish Council is utterly sickened and horrified by the mass shooting as families gathered for the first night of the Jewish festival of Chanukah at Bondi Beach in Sydney,” President Juliet Moses said.

“We do not know all the details but we are haunted by the scenes we have seen, in a place familiar to and loved by so many of us,” she said.

“We are in shock and we pray for the innocent victims of this atrocity,” Moses said.

“We offer our full support to the Jewish community in Sydney and Australia,” she said.