A Melbourne-based art gallery has installed an art display which has been accused of “worshipping” Hamas’s terrorist attack on October 7.

Designed by visual artist Leslie Eastman the installation, titled "The Cave, The Flood”, replicates the inverted red triangle which has been associated with Hamas and has been used by its supporters throughout the war.

The installation is based at Haydens Gallery, whose website claimed it is “a response to the charged events that have erupted over the last nine months in historic Palestine”.

Pro-Israel activist Eyal Yacoby posted on X that the installation "worships" the attacks that occurred 11 months ago, resulting in the deaths of nearly 1,200 Israelis and the abduction of around 250 hostages to Gaza. Yacoby called for “Melbourne to intervene and shut down” the display.

Eastman has showcased multiple solo and collaborative exhibitions both nationally and internationally. The gallery explained the title of his display refers to the “the cave and rock beneath the Dome of the Rock, at Al Aqsa, al Quds/Jerusalem” and to “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”, as Hamas terms the October 7 attacks.

The installation aimed to address “complex history and meanings” of the sacred sites and how “much is clouded in Western reportage”.

The gallery added: “More than ever the latest phase in the occupation of Palestine has exposed vested interests and the limits of Western institutions, creating a flood of enraged civil and artistic protests worldwide.” Eastman was approached for comment.

The inverted red triangle has been spotted in combat footage published by Hamas while fighting in the Gaza Strip. The symbol has been used to indicate Israeli military targets such as tanks just before they are struck.

This had led to the triangle being used in international war-related and anti-Israel protests.

In July 2024, the Senate of Berlin voted to ban the symbol following a motion filed by the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party.