Sixteen people were killed and at least 40 others injured in a shooting at a Jewish festival celebration at Australia's Bondi Beach, police said early Monday in an update of the casualty toll.

"Police can confirm 16 people have died and 40 people remain in hospital following yesterday's shooting at Bondi," police in New South Wales posted on X.

The police statement did not specify whether the toll included one of the shooters, who died in the attack.

The shooting took place during an annual "Hanukkah by the Sea" event at Bondi Beach, which police said was attended by over 1,000 people.

Among the fatalities was London-born rabbi Eli Schlanger, a 41-year-old father of five who served as assistant rabbi at the Chabad of Bondi Jewish cultural centre, his first cousin told Jewish News.

"How can a joyful rabbi who went to a beach to spread happiness and light, to make the world a better place, have his life ended in this way?" Brighton-based Rabbi Zalman Lewis told the British outlet.

World leaders and governments expressed revulsion and condemnation of the shooting, including in the United States and in Europe, where EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said "Europe stands with Australia and Jewish communities everywhere."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the tragedy as a "cruel attack on Jews" and urged the Australian authorities to step up the fight against antisemitism.

And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Australia's government of having fuelled anti-Jewish sentiment in the period leading up to the shooting.