Because of the Gaza war

US fighter pilot sets himself on fire in front of Israeli embassy

The emergency services did their utmost.(Bild: AP)

Great shock in the United States: In protest against the bloody war raging in the Gaza Strip, a US Air Force pilot has set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington. The soldier broadcast the horrific act live on the Internet. The 25-year-old eventually succumbed to his injuries.

"I will no longer participate in genocide," said the man in military uniform in the live broadcast, according to the New York Times newspaper. He then doused himself with a clear liquid, set himself on fire and shouted "Freedom for Palestine". He is said to have been on fire for a minute before emergency services were able to extinguish the blaze. He was taken to hospital with critical injuries, where doctors eventually lost the battle for the young man's life.

The emergency services did their utmost.(Bild: AP)

The man was taken to a local hospital after US Secret Service officers put out the fire, the fire department said. US media reported that the deceased was 25-year-old Aaron Bushnell from San Antonia in the US state of Texas. 

Shortly before his death, the soldier had posted a message on Facebook in which he wrote: "Many of us like to ask ourselves: 'What would I have done if I had been alive during slavery?' Or the Jim Crow laws? Or of apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide? The answer is: you do. Right now."

An Air Force spokesman confirmed that the man was an active-duty soldier. The local police and intelligence services are investigating the incident.

The Israeli embassy has been the target of ongoing protests since the attack on Israel by the radical Islamic Palestinian group Hamas on October 7 and the Israeli counterattacks in the Gaza Strip. In December, a demonstrator set herself on fire in front of the Israeli consulate in Atlanta.