American military is hospitalized in critical condition after he set himself on fire in front of Israel’s embassy in Washington on Sunday, authorities said, while media reported that he had taken the ill-fated walk to protest the war in the Gaza Strip.

First responders rushed to the scene shortly before 13:00 (local time; 20:00 Greek time) following a call about “a person engulfed in flames in front of the Israeli embassy,” explained via X (the formerly Twitter) the fire department of the federal capital of the USA.

When they arrived, they found that members of the Secret Service – the service for guarding dignitaries and foreign diplomatic missions – had extinguished the fire.

Caution! Tough pictures!

The man was rushed to a hospital with “serious life-threatening injuries”, according to the same source.

A spokesperson for the US Air Force confirmed to AFP the information that the man was currently serving in its ranks, without going into further details.

For its part, the Israeli embassy said that no member of its staff was injured in the incident and that the American soldier was “unknown”.

Images streamed live on the Twitch platform show him, in military garb, declaring that he “will not be an accomplice to genocide, dousing himself in flammable liquid and setting himself on fire while shouting ‘Freedom in Palestine!’ until it falls to the ground.

AFP was unable to immediately independently verify the footage. The New York Times reported that the video had been pulled from the platform.

The self-immolation came as demonstrations and protests against Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Hamas’ unprecedented attack on its territory on October 7 are on the rise in the US.