A 71-year-old Chicago man allegedly yelled ‘you Muslims must die!’ before fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy and wounding his 32-year-old mother, in a tragedy that appears to be influenced by the Hamas-Israel war. 

The boy, identified by the local chapter of CAIR as Wadea Al-Fayoume, was pronounced dead at the hospital after he was stabbed 26 times with a large military-style knife by Joseph M. Czuba, according to an autopsy Sunday.

‘Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis,’ the Will County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement posted to social media.

Officers found both victims late Saturday morning at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, roughly 40 miles southwest of Chicago.

The woman had more than a dozen stab wounds on her body. She remained hospitalized Sunday, but was expected to survive.

Police charged 71-year-old suburban Chicago man Joseph M. Czuba (pictured left) Sunday with a hate crime for fatally stabbing 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume (pictured right) and seriously wounding his 32-year-old mother, in a crime where local authorities believe the killer was influenced by the Israel-Hamas war

Czuba was found Saturday outside ‘sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence’ with a cut on his forehead, police said.

He was in custody Sunday and awaiting a court appearance. Police charged him with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian-American boy who had recently turned 6, and his mother Hanaan Shahin, were identified as the victims.

They had lived on the ground floor of the house for two years, according to the organization, saying the suspect was their landlord. 

Citing text messages from the mother to the boy’s father, the suspect reportedly yelled, ‘You Muslims must die!’ ahead of the stabbing, according to CAIR-Chicago.

The Muslim civil liberties organization called the crime ‘our worst nightmare,’ and part of a disturbing spike in hate calls and emails since the outbreak of violence in the Middle East.