‘All Eyes On Rafah’ Image Shared Over 44 Million Times On Instagram
An AI-generated image with the slogan “All eyes on Rafah” has been shared over 44 million times on Instagram since Monday, following a deadly Israeli strike at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah, a city in Gaza.
The image portrays densely packed rows of tents sprawling across a desert landscape with mountains in the background, symbolizing the mass displacement of Palestinians amid Israel’s military operations against Hamas.
Prominent celebrities, including Chilean-US actor Pedro Pascal, models Bella and Gigi Hadid (of Palestinian descent), and French football star Ousmane Dembele, are among those who have shared the image on Instagram.
The slogan “All eyes on Rafah” has also gained significant traction on other platforms, especially X (formerly Twitter), where the hashtag #alleyesonrafah has garnered nearly one million hits, as reported by online monitor Visibrain. The platform has seen 27.5 million messages about the attack on Rafah in just three days, reflecting widespread international outrage.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reported that the Israeli strike on the camp on Sunday, which caused a fire, resulted in 45 deaths and 249 injuries. Israel’s military stated that the strike targeted and killed two senior Hamas militants. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the incident as a “tragic accident” under investigation by his government.
The current conflict, the deadliest Gaza war to date, was triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,189 people, mostly civilians, according to AFP’s tally based on Israeli official figures. Additionally, militants captured 252 hostages, with 121 still in Gaza, including 37 whom the Israeli army reports are deceased.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has led to at least 36,171 deaths in Gaza, primarily civilians, as reported by the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory.
