A U.S. military service member who had set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington over the weekend, in an apparent act of protest against the war in Gaza, has died, local police said Monday.
Officer Lee Lepe, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department, confirmed the U.S. airman's death.
The Pentagon said that the death was a "tragic event" and that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was following the situation.
Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder told reporters that he was not aware of any other acts of protest by service members against the war.
The U.S. airman was hospitalized in critical condition on Sunday after U.S. Secret Service officers put out the flames, D.C. Fire and EMS had said earlier.
The man, wearing military fatigues, broadcast the incident live over the internet.
"I will no longer be complicit in genocide," the man said before dousing himself in a clear liquid and setting himself on fire, screaming, "Free Palestine," according to a video seen by Reuters.
The latest incident came amid pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests in the United States following Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 Israelis in a cross-border attack. About 240 people were taken hostage.
Israeli forces then waged a military campaign against the Palestinian Islamist group that rules Gaza, destroying much of the coastal enclave, with nearly 30,000 people confirmed killed, according to Palestinian health officials.
Israel's embassies have drawn continued protests against the war. In December, a woman protesting the war set herself on fire outside the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta.
