An US air force member who died after he lit himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C. in protest against the war in Gaza, has been compared to a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who burned himself to death in 1963.
25-year-old Aaron Bushnell, of San Antonio, Texas, succumbed to his injuries the Metropolitan Police Department confirmed on Monday.
Bushnell declared he would "not be complicit in genocide" during a livestream on Twitch outside the Israeli Embassy just before 1pm on Sunday.
He then proceeded to douse himself with a flammable liquid and set his body alight.
Wearing military fatigues he yelled "Free Palestine" multiple times before collapsing.
In the video he said that his suffering paled in comparison to the plight Palestians were experiencing during the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Nearby police officers rushed to extinguish the flames that engulfed Bushnell's body.
DC fire and emergency responders raced him to hospital with 'critical life threatening injuries" the US Capital's fire department said in a statement.
The video has since been removed from the platform but local authorities are reviewing their own copy of the footage.
An Israeli Embassy spokesperson said no one at the embassy was injured.
Israel launched an invasion in Gaza in response to Hamas' terror attacks on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1, 200 people.
Almost 30, 000 people have been killed in the response, the Hamas-run health authority reports.
Parallels have been drawn between Bushnell's act of protest and Thic Quang Duc's self-immolation in May 1963.
Thic Quang Duc, a Vietnamese Buddist monk set himself alight at the holiday in an act of defiance against the Ngo Dinh Diem's government's persecution of Buddists.
The action attracted worldwide attention and influenced John F. Kennedy's decision to reassess the US' policy on Vietnam.
A Buddhist holiday marking the birthday of Gautama Buddha in Hue, Vietnam ended in nine fatalities after the army opened fire on a celebration where more than 500 people were attending and waving flags.
Under Roman Catholic Ngo Ninh's rule the waving of religious flags was illegal.
Thic Quang Duc, sat down on the street and was covered in almost five gallons of fuel by a fellow monk and then he lit himself on fire with a match.
