A US air force pilot who set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington has died
A US Air Force pilot, Aaron Bushnell, (28), has died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington over the weekend in protest against the war in Gaza, the Pentagon announced Monday.
The capital’s fire department stated on X that rescue personnel rushed to the scene shortly before 1:00 pm (18:00 GMT) in response to a call about a person burning in front of the Israeli embassy.
Upon their arrival, they found that the secret service charged with protecting embassies in Washington had already extinguished the fire.
A video shared on social media showed that the man filmed himself shouting “Free Palestine” while setting himself on fire.
He was initially taken to the hospital after suffering “serious, life-threatening injuries,” according to the fire department.
An Air Force spokeswoman said that the man, whose identity was not revealed, “died of his wounds last night… We’ll provide additional details 24 hours after his relatives are notified”.
For its part, the Israeli embassy said that no member of its staff was injured in the incident and that the US pilot was unknown to them.
In the video that spread on social media, the man wearing a military uniform appeared declaring that he “won’t be complicit in genocide,” before dousing himself with liquid, then setting himself on fire while shouting, “Free Palestine!” Until he fell to the ground.
Media reports stated that the recording was initially broadcast live on the Twitch social platform.
This comes amid growing protests in the United States against the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip that followed the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7.
