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6-year-old Palestinian-American boy killed in Illinois, suspect charged with hate crime
(JTA) — Police in the Chicago suburb of Plainfield arrested a man on Saturday for killing a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy and wounding his mother, a violent act police attributed to islamophobia and “the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.”
The killing is being investigated as a hate crime and brought home fears of violence against Palestinian and Muslim Americans in the wake of Hamas’ invasion of Israel and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza. The act has drawn broad condemnation, including from President Joe Biden; Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, both of whom are Jewish; and multiple Jewish organizations.
“There is no humane world that can and should tolerate the murder of an innocent child because of his identity,” Mayorkas said in a statement. “The tragic events in the Middle East, begun by the brutal terrorist attacks by Hamas, have brought ideologies of hate to the fore across the world – notably antisemitism and Islamophobia.”
According to Chicago’s ABC affiliate, the boy, Wadea Al-Fayoum, was stabbed to death by Joseph Czuba, 71, the family’s landlord, who said, “You Muslims must die.” Czuba used a military-style knife to stab the boy 26 times, and his mother 12 times, according to police.
Al-Fayoume’s mother immigrated from the West Bank 12 years ago. According to reports, Czuba had previously been friendly with the fam ily and the little boy.
“The Islamophobic rhetoric and anti-Palestinian racism being spread by politicians, media outlets, and social media platforms must stop. Now,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
President Joe Biden condemned the killing and also warned against violence targeting Palestinians and Muslims.
“Jill and I were sickened to learn of the brutal murder of a child and the attempted murder of the child’s mother yesterday in Illinois,” Biden said on X. “Our condolences and prayers are with the family. This act of hate against a Palestinian Muslim family has no place in America.”
Pritzker and Mayorkas both cast the attack in the context of fears of rising violence against Jews and Muslims in the wake of the war. Pritzker called the attack “nothing short of evil.”
“Every single Illinoisan — including our Muslim, Jewish and Palestinian neighbors — deserves to live free from the threat of such evil,” he said.
“Today, MK and I join our Muslim and Palestinian brothers and sisters in mourning this tragic loss and praying for the recovery of Wadea’s mother,” said Pritzker’s statement. He closed with a traditional Jewish saying referencing the dead: “May Wadea Al-Fayoume’s memory be a blessing.”
Jewish groups have condemned the killing as well. The Anti-Defamation League said in a statement on Sunday that it was “disgusted and horrified that a 6-year-old boy was murdered and his mother was severely injured in #Plainfield, IL, allegedly because they are Muslim. We express our condolences to the Muslim community and categorically reject all anti-Muslim hate.”
And he Jewish Council for Public Affairs pleaded for tolerance.
“Over the last week, we’ve seen Islamophobia, anti-Arab hate, & antisemitism skyrocket here in the U.S.,” the group said on X. “We all have an obligation to speak out and stand up against it, no matter how one feels about the situation in Israel and Gaza.”
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The post 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy killed in Illinois, suspect charged with hate crime appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.