Mass stabbing at synagogue in upstate New York

Washington, Dec 29: Multiple people were stabbed at a Jewish place of worship in upstate New York late Saturday night, a public affairs group said.

"At 9:50 this eve, a call came in about a mass stabbing... It's the house of a Hasidic Rabbi. 5 patients with stab wounds, all Hasidic, were transported to local hospitals," the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council (OJPAC) tweeted.

Two people were reportedly in critical condition, OJPAC added. CBS New York reported that a man brandishing a machete went into the rabbi's property in Monsey, New York State, an area with a large Jewish population, during a Hanukkah celebration and knifed at least three people before fleeing.

Yossi Gestetner, a co-founder of the OJPAC for the Hudson Valley region, told the New York Times one of the victims was a son of the rabbi.

"The house had many dozens of people in there," Gestetner said. "It was a Hanukkah celebration." Police in the US have been battling a rash of attacks against Jewish targets in recent years.

Saturday's stabbing follows a shooting earlier this month at a kosher deli in a New York suburb that authorities said was fueled in part by anti-Semitism. Six people were killed in the Jersey City attack, including the two suspects.