Sydney has welcomed the New Year with a message of peace following the Bondi Beach mass shooting, as huge crowds gathered to watch the city’s annual fireworks display.

The words peace and unity were projected onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge, as thousands of heavily armed police officers patrolled the streets – a rare and stark sight in Australia – as part of heightened security measures.

New South Wales (NSW) Police said more than 2,500 officers were on duty across the city, and some officers were authorised to carry high-grade weapons.

The attack on 14 December targeted Australia’s Jewish community and killed 15 people at a Hanukkah festival.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge was lit up by a white light to symbolise peace, and a Jewish menorah was projected on to the pylons of the bridge to show solidarity with the Jewish community.

Official New Year’s Eve parties were paused at 23:00 local time (12:00 GMT) for a minute’s silence to commemorate the victims of the attack.

Pictures from Sydney Harbour – where thousands gather every year to watch the famous fireworks display – showed officers patrolling the crowds with longarm weapons.

In the lead up to the event, Premier Chris Minns had warned that some people may find the sight “confronting”, with police “carrying firearms and weapons that you haven’t seen before”.

“But I don’t make any apology for that. We want people to be safe in our community,” he added.

British tourists Joe and Lucy said the increased police presence reassured them.

The pair – who timed their Australia trip to coincide with the fireworks – were in Melbourne when the shooting occurred.

“We had our worries about coming for New Year’s Eve,” Joe told the BBC, adding, “but we were reading more recently in the news… how more police were going to be here, it would be a bit safer”.

Separately, Minns had urged Sydneysiders to not let the “horrible criminal terrorist event” at Bondi change the way they live, as he called on people to “show defiance” and celebrate the new year.

This sentiment was shared by some of the spectators.

Out among the crowds at Barangaroo’s Observatory Hill, a close spot to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, was Hélène from Belgium.

She told the BBC people “cannot live in fear” following the attack.

Hours ahead of the countdown, hundreds of thousands of people flocked towards the harbour, with many official viewing areas filling to capacity by early evening.

On the harbour, sailboats dotted the water – one of the best spots to watch the midnight fireworks display.

Sydney’s celebration – with its iconic fireworks display – kicked off a chain of events, from Dubai, to London and New York.