Secy of State #Blinken returned to #Israel Mon. Blinken met Israeli PM #Netanyahu & Pres #Herzog in #Jerusalem; he heads to #TelAviv next to meet w/ the #war cabinet ahead of their military offensive against #Hamas. Blinken’s 2nd visit in just a few days, comes after Pres #Biden warned that a new Israeli #occupation of #Gaza would be a “big mistake” — his firmest effort to signal restraint to Israel as the #HumanitarianCrisis in Gaza reaches critical.
For the past two years, relatives recalled, #JosephCzuba was kind to the #Palestinian mother & her young son who were renting part of his house in #Plainfield, IL, ~½ hr SW of Chicago.
The 71-year-old landlord built the boy a treehouse, let him use a swimming pool & bought him toys, the child’s relatives said. But over the past few days, acc/to the family, “something changed,” & Czuba had grown hostile to his #Arab tenants.
On Saturday, a week after #Hamas militants launched a devastating attack on #Israel, #Czuba allegedly knocked on the #Palestinian family’s door just after 11AM. When the mother, #HanaanShahin, answered, Czuba assaulted her w/a serrated military-style knife while yelling #AntiMuslim statements, forcing her to run to the bathroom to call 911, acc/to local authorities & the family’s statements at a news conference on Sunday.
When #Shahin emerged from the bathroom after calling police…, she found #Czuba attacking her 6-year-old son, #WadeaAlfayoumi, who later died of his wounds. He had been stabbed 26 times, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said in a stmnt. Shahin, 32, was stabbed at least a dozen times & remains hospitalized in serious condition, the family said.
#Czuba was charged w/one count each of first degree #murder, attempted murder & aggravated #battery, and two counts related to #HateCrimes, acc/to the sheriff’s office.
“Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being #Muslims & the on-going #MiddleEastern conflict involving #Hamas & #Israel,” the statement said.