United States Air Force Members Protesting Gaza War By Self-immolation Outside Israel Embassy Declared Dead

The Israeli Embassy in Washington DC, United States (Wikimedia Commons/Krokodyl)

JAKARTA - A member of the United States air force who set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC on weekends, as a form of protest against the war in Gaza, has breathed his last, local police said.

A spokesman for the Department of the Metropolitan Police, Lee Lepe, confirmed the death of the United States pilot.

The United States Department of Defense said the death was a "tragic event" and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin monitored the situation.

Pentagon spokesman Major General Patrick Ryder told reporters he was not aware of any other acts of protest by members of the military against the war.

Earlier, the US pilot was hospitalized in critical condition on Sunday after US Secret Service officers extinguished the fire, DC Fire and EMS said.

Wearing military uniforms, the man's pilots broadcast the incident live via the internet.

"I will no longer be involved in genocide," the man said before dousing himself with clear fluids and burning himself, shouting "Free Palestine," according to a video seen by Reuters.

The latest incident comes amid pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protests that have been rolling in Uncle Sam's country since the Hamas conflict with Israel broke out on October 7, when the militant group invaded Israel's southern region.

Israeli forces then launched a military campaign against the Palestinian Islamist group that controls Gaza, destroying much of the coastal territory, with nearly 30,000 people confirmed dead, according to Palestinian health officials.

The Israeli Embassy itself continues to be the target of protests against the war in Gaza. The war in Gaza has sparked pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests in the United States. In December, a woman protesting the war burned herself outside the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta.