Israeli, Palestinian Stopped in Self-Immolation Attempts

Police prevented an Israeli man and a Palestinian man from setting themselves on fire.

Tuesday’s attempted self-immolations occurred in front of government buildings -- in the Israeli city of Kfar Saba and in the West Bank town of Dura.

Both came as a result of economic distress, according to The Jerusalem Post.

The Post, which did not identify the Israeli man, reported that the Palestinian was Khaled Abu Rabia, who has two wives and 10 children. He works for the Palestinian Authority police force.

The wave of self-immolations began July 14 when Moshe Silman, an Israeli, set himself on fire to protest his dire economic situation. He died a week later from his burns.

Since then, several Israelis have attempted self-immolation. And on Sunday, a Palestinian -- Abu Nada of Gaza City -- died after setting himself on fire.