American police said that a man from Illinois stabbed a Muslim child 26 times, killing him, while seriously wounding his mother, while chanting anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian statements.

The police accused the 71-year-old man of committing a hate crime against the 6-year-old child and his 32-year-old mother, saying that the two victims were targeted because of their Islamic faith.

The Will County Sheriff said in a statement posted on social media, “Investigators were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect because of their Muslim status and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.”

Officers found the two victims late in the day at a home in Plainfield, about 65 kilometers southwest of Chicago.

The police chief's office said the boy, who was declared dead in hospital, was stabbed 26 times with a large military knife, according to an autopsy.

The woman suffered more than 12 stab wounds to her body, and remained in the hospital, but her condition was stable.

Police charged the man with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

US President Joe Biden said that he felt "shock and disgust" after the killing of a child of Palestinian origins and the attempt to kill his mother in Chicago, Illinois, against the backdrop of the escalation taking place between Israel and Gaza.

The US President offered his condolences to the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities over the child’s killing, stressing that “the brutal killing of a six-year-old child of Palestinian origins is a horrific act of hatred that has no place in America,” according to Al Hurra’s correspondent in the White House