A video that went viral on Twitch showed a man named Aaron Bushnell, who introduced himself as a United States Air Force member, setting himself on fire in Washington, DC. He was standing outside the embassy of Israel in the American capital, and before he burned himself alive, he was heard saying that he would “no longer be complicit in genocide” and that he was “about to engage in an extreme act of protest.” He kept on shouting “Free Palestine” as he burned himself outside the Israeli Embassy.

During the incident, no embassy staff was reported to be harmed or injured, according to a report by a spokeswoman for the embassy. On suspicion of a vehicle containing a bomb near the airman, a bomb disposal unit was also called to the embassy.

There have been several incidents in which demonstrators or protesters have tried to set themselves on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in the United States. Earlier in December, a protester tried to do the same in Georgia.

Bushnell, 25, was just taken to the hospital in critical condition, but he died due to burns. Police officers are trying to investigate the cause and effects of the fire incident by collaborating with the Secret Service of the US along with the Bureaus of Tobacco, Alcohol, Firearms, and Explosives.

The Israel-Hamas war started on October 7, 2023, when gunmen from Hamas entered Israel and took 253 hostages after killing 1,200 people in the region. In return, Israel launched a campaign in Gaza that has killed 29,300 people till now. Along with those who have been martyred in the Palestinian region, 1.9 million citizens of Gaza have been displaced, which is nearly 85% of its population.

While giving an interview to a news channel, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, took a defensive position by saying that if America had to face an attack like Israel has faced from Hamas, it would be “doing a hell of a lot more.”

Police found a Palestinian flag at the incident site and related it to the protest.