6-yr-old killed in US hate crime to ‘repay’ Hamas
Officers found the woman and boy late Saturday morning at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, about 40 miles (65 km) southwest of Chicago, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on social media.
Representative Image (File)
CHICAGO: A 71-year-old Illinois man accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 32-year-old woman was charged with a hate crime Sunday. Police allege he singled out the victims because of their Islamic faith and as a response to Hamas’s attack on Israel.
Officers found the woman and boy late Saturday morning at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, about 40 miles (65 km) southwest of Chicago, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on social media.
The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital. The woman had multiple stab wounds and was expected to survive the statement. An autopsy on the child showed he had been stabbed dozens of times.
“Both were targeted for being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and Israelis,” said the sheriff’s statement adding Joseph M Czuba of Plainfield was charged with first-degree murder and two counts of hate crimes.
Authorities did not release the names of the two victims.
President Joe Biden said: “This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are.”
Humanitarian aid stuck on Gaza-Egypt border
Palestinians in besieged Gaza crowded into hospitals and schools on Monday, seeking shelter and running low on food and water.
More than a million people have fled their homes ahead of an expected Israeli ground invasion aimed at destroying Hamas after its fighters rampaged through southern Israel.
A wounded donkey near buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes in northern Gaza Strip.
As the enclave’s food, water and medicine supplies dwindled, all eyes were on the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, where trucks carrying badly needed aid have been waiting for days as mediators press for a cease-fire that would allow them to enter Gaza and allow foreigners to leave.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group said it has started destroying surveillance cameras on several Israeli army posts along the border as tension rose following the war.