‘All eyes on Rafah’ image shared 44 million times on Instagram; Israel counters viral trend

After Israel’s continuous airstrikes claimed dozens of lives in Gaza over the last few days, the artificial intelligence generated image ‘All eyes on Rafah’ started doing rounds on social media.

The viral image has now been shared over 44 million times on Instagram, on the backdrop of the global outrage against civilian deaths in Israel’s offensive against Rafah.

The viral image, which bears the words ‘All eyes on Rafah’, depicts densely packed rows of tents stretching endlessly across a desert landscape overshadowed by mountains, alluding to the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled there during Israel’s military campaign against Hamas.

Amid the global outrage, the image was also shared by multiple celebrities across the world. Chilean-US actor Pedro Pascal, top models Bella and Gigi Hadid, who are of Palestinian descent, and French football star Ousmane Dembele were some of the first celebrities to share the image on their social media.

Not just Instagram, but the slogan “All eyes on Rafah” also saw a lot of mentions on other social media platforms, especially X. The hashtag #alleyesonrafah has attracted almost one million hits on X, while the platform has seen over 27.5 million messages about the Israeli attack on Gaza in the last three days.

The Israeli airstrikes and shelling on Rafah on Sunday led to a massive fire in a relief shelter, where refugees were residing in outdoor tents. The health ministry of Gaza said that the attack led to 45 civilian deaths, including children. 249 people were left injured in the attacks.

After the ‘All eyes on Rafah’ trend took over social media across the globe, Israel launched its own counter to the viral photo. Israeli authorities took to social media to share a photo captioned ‘what your eyes fail to see’, highlighting the condition of the hostages taken by Hamas in the October 7 attacks.

The Israel Foreign Ministry reposted a tweet made by the Embassy of the State of Israel in India that read: “What your eyes fail to see is the cries of 125 Israeli men, women, children, and elderly currently held hostage by Hamas in horrible conditions deep in the tunnels of Gaza.”

“This is why the conflict began. Knowing the full story is important before making any comments. We will not rest until EACH AND EVERY ONE of the hostages is home,” the tweet further reads.