A deranged attacker yelling “Allahu Akbar” stabbed two men in separate attacks on the Upper West Side Thursday afternoon, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

Investigators were probing whether the suspect Raul Morales, 51, was motivated by hate, though Tisch also said “the initial investigation suggests that mental health may have been a factor.”

“Detectives are continuing to work the case and determine motive, but according to victim and witness statements, Morales yelled ‘Allahu Akbar,'” meaning, “God is the greatest” in Arabic, during both attacks, the top cop said in a statement.

“The NYPD is currently evaluating whether this is a potential hate crime,” she wrote.

Morales, 51, allegedly jumped the first victim, a 57-year-old Asian man near West 84th Street and Central Park West, and stabbed him in the back with a knife at around 1:30 p.m., police and the sources said.

The second victim, a 50-year-old man wearing a yarmulke, was attacked after leaving a synagogue at Amsterdam Avenue and West 86th Street, and stabbed in the torso with a screwdriver, according to cops and sources.

Both victims were brought to Saint Luke’s Hospital, where they were listed in stable condition according to police.

Morales was caught around 2:45 p.m. after he allegedly barricaded himself inside a NYCHA apartment just blocks away on Amsterdam Avenue near West 88th Street, cops said.

Nava Silton, who was speaking with the second victim inside the Jewish Center on West 86th Street before the attack, said she ran out and spoke to two witnesses who heard the suspect say “Allah Akbar” before the stabbing.

“The perpetrator tried to act like a normal person and that he wasn’t involved and muttering someone should call 911. Literally pretending he was not culpable,” Silton told The Post.

She said that the victim told her “someone drove a screwdriver into the right side of his chest and yelled something,” but didn’t hear exactly what.

“It was serious, but he’s speaking, and he’s conscious,” she said of the victim, adding that he was “an incredible person” and that she was praying for him. He had been leaving Tisha B’Av services when he was attacked.

Marianna Ellenberg recalled witnessing the wife of the first victim watch in horror as her husband was randomly knifed in the back near West 84th Street and Central Park West.

“He was entirely like this [kneeling on his knees], and the knife was sticking out his back. He was just like kind of so stoic,” Ellenberg said. “We saw her [his wife] covering her mouth. She was just scared.”

“Like it was like a surreal image because it was during a bright, sunny 1:30 p.m. Upper West Side, Central Park West day. And there was just this cry,” Ellenberg said. 

Michael Jacobs and Morris Dahan, members of Manhattan Shomrim, a volunteer civilian watch group in Orthodox communities, rushed to the scene after receiving calls about the stabbing.

The second victim was “identifiable as Jewish” when he was stabbed, Jacobs described.

“He was fully identifiable as Jewish. He was wearing a skull cap, a yarmulke, a kippah, and he lives here in the neighborhood. He’s known in the neighborhood. He’s a respected person in the neighborhood. Minding his own business, just going to pray, “ Jacobs said.

Dahan also said it was “unbelievable” how cops managed to pull Morales out of the nearby NYCHA apartment.

“He was inside of an apartment, and they went in there, 50, 60 cops with dogs, canine, sledgehammers, whatever they need to break into doors. And sure enough, 15 minutes later, they came out with him,” Dahan said.

Charges were not immediately filed against Morales, who sources said suffers from mental health issues and has at least two prior arrests, both for drug possession back in 1991.   

A witness observed Morales walking erratically and shouting incoherently — including yelling the word “Islam” — on Columbus Avenue near West 86th Street roughly half an hour after officers responded to the first stabbing.

“While the perpetrator has no known mental health history with the NYPD, the initial investigation suggests that mental health may have been a factor,” Tisch said.

A knife and screwdriver were recovered following his arrest, police said.

“I want to commend the bravery of a good Samaritan who led our officers to the location where the perpetrator was hiding, as well as our NYPD cops who brought an end to the incident without further injuries,” Tisch said in the statement.

Several lawmakers blasted the stabbing as another apparent “senseless” attack on Jewish New Yorkers. 

“Disgusted by what appears to be another senseless attack on New Yorkers simply because they’re Jewish,” Gov. Kathy Hochul wrote in a statement on X. 

“The strength of New York has always been our ability to live together across every faith and background,” Hochul said. “Anyone who tries to tear that apart will be met with the full force of the law. New York will stand with our Jewish community today, tomorrow, and always.”

City Council Speaker Julie Menin added in a statement that she was “absolutely sickened and furious by what appears to be an antisemitic stabbing.”

“While we await additional details to be confirmed, we know that what is happening in our city is abhorrent. The fear in the Jewish community is real. Every New Yorker deserves to feel safe in their neighborhood, regardless of their faith or identity,” Menin said. 

Mayor Zohran Mamdani also wrote on X that he had been briefed on the “horrifying stabbings.”

“According to witness and victim statements, the perpetrator yelled “Allahu Akbar” during both attacks. I am relieved that both victims are in stable condition,” Mamdani said.

“The NYPD responded immediately and arrested Raul Morales in connection with both assaults—and I am grateful to the officers for their swift response,” Hizzoner added. “The NYPD’s initial investigation suggests that mental health may have been a factor. They are also evaluating these stabbings as potential hate crimes.”

State Assemblyman Micah Lasher (D-Manhattan) also said he was aware of the incident and “praying for the survival and recovery of the victims.”

— Additional reporting by Amanda Woods