Air Force pilot sets self on fire

An unnamed United States Air Force pilot had filmed himself shouting “Free Palestine” as he lit himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, according to footage shared on social media.

He was transported to a hospital with “critical life-threatening injuries,” the fire department said, and an Air Force spokesperson said Monday morning he had died Sunday night.

The shocking act was an escalation of recent protests across the US against Israel’s actions in Gaza, where with US support it is waging a retaliatory war for an attack on 7 October by Hamas terrorists.

The video of the self-immolation was reportedly first shared in a livestream on the social platform Twitch.

In the video, the man wearing military fatigues and declaring he will “not be complicit in genocide” before dousing himself in liquid, lighting himself on fire and yelling “Free Palestine!” until he collapses.

Emergency responders on Sunday rushed to the scene in response to a “call for person on fire outside the Israeli Embassy,” the capital city’s fire department said.