US airman dies after setting himself on fire outside Israeli embassy
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The Israeli embassy in Washington has been the site of sustained protests against the war in Gaza as the civilian death toll in the devastated enclave continues to climb.
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WASHINGTON – A United States military service member who had set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington over the weekend, in an apparent act of protest against the war in Gaza, has died, local police said on Feb 26.
Officer Lee Lepe, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department, confirmed the US airman’s death. NBC News, citing an unnamed US official, said more details would be released after the military notified his family.
The US airman had been hospitalised in critical condition on Feb 25 after US Secret Service officers put out the flames, DC Fire and EMS had said.
The New York Times had separately reported that the man, wearing military fatigues, had broadcast the incident live over the Internet.
“I will no longer be complicit in genocide,” the man said before dousing himself in a clear liquid and setting himself on fire, screaming “Free Palestine”, according to the Times.
The latest incident comes amid ongoing pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests in the US following the Hamas Oct 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people. Some 250 others were taken hostage.
Israeli forces then launched a retaliatory military offensive in Gaza, destroying much of the coastal enclave, with nearly 30,000 people confirmed killed, according to Palestinian health officials.
Israel’s embassies have drawn continued protest against the war. In December, a female protester set herself on fire outside the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta. REUTERS, NYTIMES
