The war in Gaza: the American soldier who blew himself up in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington dies

An active member of the United States Air Force He died after self-immolation this weekend outside the Israeli embassy in Washington in protest against the conflict in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, the Pentagon said Monday.

A spokesperson for the institution said the man, whose name was not released, “succumbed to his injuries and died last night” Sunday. “We will provide further details 24 hours after next of kin notifications have been completed,” he added.

Emergency crews went to the Israeli embassy in Washington shortly before 1pm local time (3pm in Argentina) on Sunday in response to a “call for a person on fire” there, according to a message on social X of the Fire Brigade of the American capital.

When they arrived at the scene, they discovered that the fire had already been put out by agents of the Secret Service, the agency charged with protecting embassies in Washington.

Local media reported that the subject, who was wearing a uniform, apparently broadcast live on the social network Twitchassuring that he “will not be complicit in the genocide” before dousing himself in the liquid, in reference to Israel’s military actions in Gaza.

Then he blew himself up shouting “Free Palestine!” until he reportedly fell to the ground

The event occurred at a time when Protests are growing in the United States against Israel’s military actions in Gazawhich it subjects to intense bombing and where it carries out continuous ground operations in a war of retaliation for the unprecedented attack perpetrated on its territory on 7 October by the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas.

Militants killed 1,160 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250 that day, according to an AFP report based on Israeli data.

The death toll in Gaza from Israel’s response is approaching 30,000, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-ruled area’s Ministry of Health, increasing international pressure on the United States to stop its traditional ally Israel and call for a ceasefire.