The 6-year-old Illinois victim ‘trying to hug’ his murderer before being slashed for 26 times

The father of a six-year-old boy who was stabbed to death in a suspected hate crime said his son may have tried to hug his attacker before he was killed.

Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed 26 times along with his mother, who survived the attack, in their home in Illinois.

The boy’s murder has been linked to the Israel-Hamas war amid concerns over a surge in violent attacks against innocent Jews and Palestinians around the world.

“I keep thinking that my son was probably running towards him before getting stabbed, trying to give him a hug," his dad told the Daily Beast.

Today, the young boy was laid to rest at the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview, Illinois, located to the southwest of Chicago, as confirmed by a statement from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

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The suspect, Joseph M. Czuba, 71, of Plainfield, Illinois, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s office said the suspect was found Saturday outside the house with a cut on his forehead and that he targeted the victims because they were Muslim and because of the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and Israel.

“Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis,” the sheriff’s statement read.

According to the sheriff's office, the woman dialed 911 to report that her landlord had assaulted her with a knife. She sought refuge in a bathroom, where she valiantly defended herself against the attacker.

Recently, law enforcement agencies in American cities and federal authorities have maintained heightened vigilance due to concerns over the potential for violence driven by anti-Semitic or Islamophobic sentiments.

Officials from the FBI, along with Jewish and Muslim organizations, have documented a surge in hateful and menacing rhetoric.

During a press conference held on Sunday by the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the boy's father, as well as the boy's paternal uncle, Yousef Hannon, addressed the audience.

“We are not animals, we are humans. We want people to see us as humans, to feel us as humans, to deal with us as humans, because this is what we are,” said Hannon, a Palestinian American who emigrated to the US in 1999 to work, including as a public school teacher

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 the Israel-Hamas war. The group cited text messages exchanged among family members that showed the attacker had made disparaging remarks about Muslims.

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“Palestinians basically, again, with their hearts broken over what’s happening to their people,” said Ahmed Rehab, the group’s executive director, “have to also worry about the immediate safety of life and limb living here in this most free of democracies in the world.

The boy's father, Oday El-Fayoume, conveyed to The Daily Beast that there had been a "positive relationship" with Czuba, who had even constructed a treehouse for the young child outside their rented home.

“He is an angel. Basically a small angel in the form of a person,” El-Fayoume said of his son.

“It is hard to picture this man holding a knife about to stab my son.”

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