Explained: What’s The Meaning Of ‘All Eyes On Rafah’ And Why Is It Trending On Social Media

The latest Israeli strikes that killed at least 45 Palestinians, including many children, in tents full of displaced people in Gaza’s Rafah have drawn widespread condemnation from several countries and human rights groups. The Tal as-Sultan area, a designated “safe zone” in northwest of Rafah city, was hit by at least eight Israeli missiles, Al Jazeera reported quoting witnesses.

This social media post urging attention to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza has garnered over 34 million shares on Instagram within a mere 24 hours, highlighting a renewed online advocacy effort by supporters of the Palestinian cause following a deadly Israeli airstrike.

What does ‘All eyes on Rafah’ mean?

• “All eyes on Rafah” is an artificial intelligence (AI) generated image with a slogan calling attention to the situation in Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt.
• After the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, Israel began bombing it from the north and moved down, displacing Palestinians from their homes as they fled south to seek shelter.
• By February, about half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population had been pushed into Rafah when Israel said it planned to launch a ground operation on Rafah, claiming Hamas four brigades, the Palestinian group that governs the Strip, were there.
• The announcement was condemned worldwide. In February, Richard “Rik” Peeperkorn, WHO representative for Gaza and the occupied West Bank, said “all eyes” are on the impending Rafah offensive. Ameera Kawash, a UK-based Palestinian-Iraqi-American artist and researcher, whose work explores the effect of AI on Palestinian lives and narratives, told Al Jazeera that “All eyes on Rafah” likely originated from his statement.
• Since then, the slogan has appeared on protest posters and other social media posts.

Who has shared the ‘All eyes on Rafah’ AI-generated image?

The image is being reposted on Instagram stories by users globally.

As of 11:30 GMT on Thursday, it has been reposted on 46.6 million Instagram stories. These include the accounts of:

• American supermodel Bella Hadid, whose father is Palestinian.
• Irish actress Nicola Coughlan from the Netflix show Bridgerton.
• American comedian and writer Hasan Minhaj, as well as American actor Aaron Paul.
• British actor and activist Jameela Jameel and British singer Dua Lipa.
• Famous Indian actors, including Varun Dhawan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Alia Bhatt and Kareena Kapoor Khan.

Rohit Sharma’s wife trolled for ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ story

Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma’s wife, Ritika Sajdeh, was also among the celebrities who shared ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ posts. However, she was quick to delete the post after receiving heavy trolling over it. At the time of writing this report, her Instagram story on ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ remains unavailable.

The first Instagram story using it was posted on Monday by user @shahv4012.

When did this war start?

It started on October 7, 2023, after Hamas attacked southern Israel, resulting in the death of hundreds of people, mostly civilians. The group also took several people hostage. Israel’s retaliatory attacks have killed and injured thousands of people.