By Oishani Bhattacharya

Seven months into the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, more than 35,000 lives have been lost in Palestine with thousands injured and displaced. On May 26, Israel launched airstrikes on Rafah in southern Gaza, where numerous displaced Palestinian civilians were taking refuge in camps, resulting in the deaths of at least 45 people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged the strikes and dubbed them a ‘tragic mishap’. However, on May 28, Israel unleashed airstrikes again in Rafah killing 21. Just days before the massacre in Rafah, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah and to withdraw from the area.

The attack caused a massive fire, and horrifying images of charred bodies and a headless child surfaced on social media. The visuals of the fire in civilian tents triggered worldwide outrage. As many took to social media platforms to share information about the situation, several influential figures globally expressed their solidarity with those affected by the Israeli airstrike. Most popularly, an AI-generated graphic depicting what appear to be camp tents with the text “All Eyes on Rafah” was shared over 40 million times.

According to the BBC, the slogan got traction after a WHO representative working in Palestinian territories, Richard Peeperkorn, in February 2024 told journalists at the time that “All eyes are on Rafah”, warning against Israeli forces attacking the city. After the graphic with the ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ slogan started trending, Hollywood big names and influential personalities such as Mark Ruffalo, Aaron Paul, Bella Hadid, and others shared it.

Several Indian celebrities also participated in the trend and shared the graphic as their Instagram story. This included tennis player Sania Mirza and several Indian actors such as Madhuri Dixit, Konkona Sen Sharma, Swara Bhaskar, Priyanka Chopra, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Varun Dhawan and others.

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