Around 1 p.m., officers from the U.S. Secret Service managed to extinguish the fire outside the embassy in northwestern Washington, as reported by Vito Maggiolo, a spokesman for the city's fire department. The man was promptly transported to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries and remains in critical condition.

Thankfully, no embassy staff members were harmed during the incident, and all were confirmed to be safe, according to Tal Naim, a spokeswoman for the embassy.

The man appeared to have documented his protest, livestreaming it on the social media platform Twitch at the time of the police response. Although The New York Times could not verify the account behind the video, the footage depicted a man walking towards the Israeli Embassy in Washington.

In the video, the man expressed his strong sentiments, stating, "I will no longer be complicit in genocide," echoing the language often used by critics of Israel's military actions in Gaza. The protest escalated as he doused himself in a clear liquid from a metal bottle and set himself on fire, all the while shouting "Free Palestine!" until he fell to the ground.

Law enforcement officers were seen approaching the man shortly before the flames erupted. In the video, one officer off-camera offered assistance, asking, "Can I help you, sir?" The officers then hurriedly worked for over a minute to extinguish the flames.

The video was later removed from Twitch, replaced by a message indicating a violation of the platform's guidelines. Notably, this was the sole video on the account, which featured a Palestinian flag as its header image.

Dressed in fatigues, the man's name matched a LinkedIn profile for an active-duty Air Force officer based in Texas, adding another layer of complexity to this distressing incident. The motivations and circumstances surrounding this act of protest are under investigation, emphasizing the need for a thorough examination of the events leading up to this unprecedented act outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington.