Hamas on Tuesday saluted the “immortal” memory of the American soldier who set himself on fire on Sunday in front of the Israeli embassy in the United States, Israel’s primary supporter, to protest against the war in Gaza.
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The immolation, the video of which circulated widely on social networks, is an “expression of the anger that is growing within the American people” about the Israeli war in Gaza, declared the Palestinian Islamist movement in a press release published in English.
This soldier “will remain immortal in the memory of Palestinians and free men throughout the world, and a symbol of the spirit of global human solidarity with our people and their just cause,” Hamas believes.
The video shows a man in military uniform declare in front of the gate of the Israeli embassy that he will not be “accomplice to the genocide in Palestine” before dousing himself with a liquid, setting it on fire while shouting “Free Palestine!” and fall to the ground.
Taken to hospital with serious injuries, he died on Monday.
The Air Force confirmed that he was an active member, without providing further details.
This act comes at a time when protests are increasing in the United States against Israel’s devastating military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The war broke out on October 7 when Hamas commandos from Gaza launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to a count by the AFP produced from official Israeli data.
Israel has since carried out a massive air and ground offensive in the Palestinian territory in retaliation which has left nearly 30,000 dead and more than 70,000 injured, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
