Another X-user tweeting from an account called harish. posted: “[I]f only people gave as much attention to Gaza as much as they are to the LA wildfires”.
They added: “[C]learly there are resources so readily available to help… YEARS of genocide & its silence but 3 days of wildfire & suddenly everyone is speaking up and actively doing something”.
Critics of Washington’s policy towards Israel have demanded the US impose an arms embargo against the country but the United States has remained steadfast in its support for the Israelis, whose war in Gaza has displaced almost all of the territory’s 2.3 million people. At least 46,500 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
US President Joe Biden and US President-elect Donald Trump both back Israel, with the US vetoing United Nations Security Council resolutions for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Washington has urged both sides of the conflict to end the war, which broke out when gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostage in an assault on October 7, 2023. Diplomatic efforts to end the war are ongoing.
X-user, Koh-i-Noor, posted: “Yes the world has double standards, seeing them panic about the LA wildfires but doing nothing about the situation in Gaza.
“Call out the hypocrisy instead of making fun of it. That’s a residential area where Muslims live as well.”
X-user, Priyanshu Singh, claimed in a tweet: “The people who were talking about humanity at times of Israel – Gaza war, are the same people who are now celebrating LA wildfires.”
Others called out the claims, including X-user, Doyenne, who posted: “What do you mean it’s karma that innocent people are losing homes because of incompetent leaders? Just because you believe the US funds wars, people deserve to suffer?”
The social media row comes after authorities in California said on Saturday (January 11) that the Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth and Hurst fires had consumed about 62 square miles, an area larger than San Francisco.
Michael Traum from the California Office of Emergency Services said 150,000 people in Los Angeles County were under evacuation orders, with more than 700 people taking refuge in nine shelters.
Mandeville Canyon, which is home to Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities, was the scene of a fierce battle between firefighters and the flames on Saturday, with helicopters dumping gallons of water over the blaze is it charged downhill.
Crews from California and nine other states are part of an ongoing response which includes 1,354 fire engines, 84 aircraft and more than 14,000 personnel, including newly arrived firefighters from Mexico.
