Man sets himself on fire outside Israeli consulate over war in Gaza

A man doused himself in gasoline before setting himself on fire near Israel’s consulate in Boston, it has been reported.

The incident happened outside the Four Seasons Hotel and across from the Israeli building on Wednesday as the US marked the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on New York.

Footage shared by NBC10 Boston shows the man walking back and forth outside the building before going up in flames

People can be seen running over in an attempt to extinguish the fire raging from his body.

A French tourist told local media that her boyfriend heard the victim screaming in pain, then went over and used his backpack to try to extinguish the flames.

It is understood that he was rushed to hospital with serious burns, but police have not shared further updated on his condition since then.

A video surfaced on social media – hours before – in which Matt Nelson, an anti-war activist, set out his plans to self-immolate to draw attention to US’ support of Israel’s war in Gaza after Hamas’ massacre in the country on October 7.

The video only surfaced via YouTube on Friday, though police have not confirmed the man’s identity.

‘My name is Matt Nelson and I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, he says, reading from a script.

He called on the government to stop supplying Israeli government ‘with money and weapons it uses to imprison and murder innocent Palestinians’ and to back the International Criminal Court’s indictment of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

‘A democracy is supposed to serve the will of the people, not the interests of the wealthy. Take the power back. Free Palestine,’ he adds in the clip.

To date, there have been three acts of self-immolation in the US since October 7, all in protest against Israel’s bloodshed.

In February, a serving member of the US air force has died after he set himself on fire in protest against the ‘genocide’ in Palestine.

Aaron Bushnell, 25, self-immolated outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC and later died in hospital.

And in December last year, a woman who has not been named set herself on fire outside of the Israeli consulate in Atlanta.

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