James Woods urged to rethink Israel support after LA fire loss

Woods, a climate sceptic, lost his Los Angeles house to wildfires currently sweeping southern California [Screengrab / X]

Pro-Palestine voices have urged Hollywood actor James Woods to reconsider his support for Israel’s war on Gaza after the American actor lost his mansion in the wildfires that swept through Los Angeles.

Woods, who had previously cheered Israel’s deadly attacks on Palestinians in Gaza while urging it to carry out more, using a “Kill them all” hashtag, broke down in tears during a CNN interview on Wednesday, mourning the destruction of his home.

“One day you’re in the swimming pool, and the next day it’s gone,” he sobbed.

Prominent Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha took to social media to confront Woods, saying: “How dare you get on the air and cry?!”.

The award-winning poet addressed Woods in a letter posted on X.

“When our house was bombed on October 28, 2023, I did not have a house or a safe place to go. I have not been able to return to the ruins on my house because my city is occupied,” he said.

“A friend of mine who was helping collect what we could find of the books was killed in January 2024. His name was Ma’rouf Al-Ashqar. He had a sweet voice and was an avid reader of Russian literature, especially Dostoevsky. Does this bother you?

“My aunt’s house was bombed in October 2024. Her daughter was killed along with another 15 people, many still under the rubble until now. Does this mean anything to you?”

Abu Toha, a Gaza native, has been a prominent voice narrating the experiences of Palestinians trying to survive Israel’s genocidal assault over the past 15 months.

One last letter to James Woods:
When our house was bombed on October 28, 2023, I did not have a house or a safe place to go on the air and watch it bombed. I have not been able to return to the ruins on my house because my city is occupied. A friend of mine who was helping… pic.twitter.com/ZLCEGBh2cA
— Mosab Abu Toha (@MosabAbuToha) January 9, 2025

Since the start of the war, the right-wing actor has repeatedly praised Israel’s brutal offensive which has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians over the past 15 months and reduced much of the territory to rubble.

“Bomb the savages who did this back to the Stone Age. There are no grey areas. Kill them all,” he wrote in an X post in October 2023.

In a post a month later, Woods demanded “no ceasefire, no compromise, no forgiveness. #KillThemAll”.

Meanwhile, other social media users highlighted the irony of Woods – a climate-change sceptic – losing his house to extreme weather.