An active U.S. Air Force member, protesting the war on Gaza, set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington on Sunday.
Emergency responders rushed to the scene just before 1 p.m. (6 p.m. GMT) in response to a "call for person on fire outside the Israeli Embassy," according to a message on X, formerly Twitter, by the capital's fire department.
They arrived to find that officers from the Secret Service – the U.S. law enforcement agency tasked with protecting U.S. political leaders, visiting heads of state and others – had already extinguished the fire.
The man was transported to the hospital with "critical life-threatening injuries," the fire department said.
An Air Force spokesperson confirmed to AFP that he was an active member of the Air Force, but gave no further details.
The soldier was later identified as Senior Airman Aaron Bushnell, 25, a cyber defense operations specialist with the 531st Intelligence Support Squadron.
A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy said no staff were injured in the incident, and that the man was "unknown" to them.
U.S. media reported that the Bushnell livestreamed himself on Twitch, wearing fatigues and declaring he will "not be complicit in genocide" before dousing himself in liquid.
He then lit himself on fire while yelling "Free Palestine!" until he fell to the ground.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) has been unable to immediately verify the footage, with the New York Times reporting that it was removed from Twitch.
The shocking act came as protests are increasing across the United States against Israel's actions in Gaza, where it is waging a brutal war for the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion.
With the death toll in Gaza nearing 30,000, according to the enclave's Health Ministry there, international pressure has been increasing on the United States to rein its ally Israel in and call for a cease-fire.
