A yet to be identified man has set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC.

According to emergency services, the incident happened at around 13:00 local time (18:00 GMT) on Sunday, and Officers from the US Secret Service extinguished the flames before the man was taken to hospital with critical, life-threatening injuries.

In a statement, the Israeli foreign ministry said the man was not known to embassy staff, none of who were also injured in the incident.

It is not the first time someone has self-immolated in front of an Israeli diplomatic mission in the US.

Last December, a protester set themselves on fire in front of the Israeli consulate in the US state of Georgia, using petrol, and a Palestinian flag was found at the scene on that occasion.