US Air Force member sets himself on fire outside Israeli embassy in Washington in protest over Gaza war

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - An active-duty member of the US Air Force set himself on fire Sunday outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. in protest against the war in Gaza, according to multiple reports.

The fire was extinguished by Secret Service personnel and the man was subsequently dispatched to an area hospital due to "critical life-threatening injuries," said the DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.

Multiple reports citing the live streaming of the incident said the man shouted "Free Palestine" as he burned.

The Washington Post cited a spokeswoman for the Air Force, Rose M. Riley, as confirming that "an active duty airman was involved in today’s incident.”

In the video, aired on the livestreaming platform Twitch and later removed, the man reportedly said he would "no longer be complicit in genocide," in reference to the Israeli killings in Gaza since October. He also reportedly said, "I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest."

An investigation remains underway, according to authorities.

In December, a person set themselves on fire outside the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta, Georgia in protest against Israel over its attacks in Gaza.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas, killing more than 29,690 people and causing mass destruction and shortages of necessities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Hostilities have continued unabated, however, and aid deliveries remain woefully insufficient to address the humanitarian catastrophe.