Ahmed Alid, 45, who had sought asylum in Britain, killed his 70-year-old victim after approaching him from behind on a road in Hartlepool, prosecutors said.
The incident happened during the early hours of October 15 last year after Alid had attacked his housemate with two knives, they added.
After his arrest, Alid told detectives he had committed the acts because of the conflict in Gaza, and in revenge for Israel killing innocent children, Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service, CPS said.
The 45-year-old Moroccan blamed Britain for creating Israel, CPS said.
Alid said if he had a machine gun, and more weapons, he would have killed more people.
"By his own admission, Ahmed Alid would have killed more people on that day if he had been able to," Nick Price, Head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said in a statement.
"Whatever his views were on the conflict in Gaza, this was a man who chose to attack two innocent people with a knife, and the consequences were devastating."
Alid had first used two knives to attack his sleeping housemate, to whom he had become aggressive after learning of his conversion to Christianity, stabbing him six times while shouting "Allahu Akbar," or "god is greatest," the CPS said.
The 32-year-old housemate, one of five asylum seekers who shared the property, managed to fight him off and another occupant came to his aid. Alid left the house with one of the knives and walked towards the center of Hartlepool.
He passed Terence Carney on the opposite side of the road before circling back and attacking him from behind.
Alid stabbed Carney six times in the chest, abdomen and back. He died shortly after police arrived.
Following his interview with police, Alid attacked the two female detectives, with one suffering injuries to her shoulder and wrist.
Alid was found guilty at Teeside Crown Court of murder, attempted murder and two counts of assaulting an emergency worker. He will be sentenced on May 17, when the judge will decide if his actions were related to terrorism.
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