A member of the US Air Force has died after setting himself on fire outside of the Israeli Embassy in Washington in protest against Israel’s war on Gaza.
The 25-year-old US airman, Aaron Bushnell of San Antonio, Texas, died from his injuries on Monday according to the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, DC.
Before setting himself on fire, Mr. Bushnell reportedly livestreamed himself on the streaming site, Twitch, declaring that he would “not be complicit in genocide.”
After setting himself on fire, Mr. Bushnell repeatedly shouted “Free Palestine.”
The Air Force stated that it would provide further information a day after military officials notified Mr. Bushnell’s next of kin.
Self-immolation has also previously been used as a form of extreme protest against the oppression of Tamils at the hands of the Sri Lankan government.
Pictured: Murugathasan Varnakulasingham
On 13 February 2009, 26-year-old Murugathasan Varnakulasingham self-immolated in protest outside the United Nations in Geneva over the inaction of the international community in the face of the 2009 genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Since 7 October more than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli bombardment of Palestine.
