“All eyes on Rafah” is a phrase that’s been shared more than 40 million times on Instagram in less than 24 hours. The giant text, superimposed over an AI-generated image of Gaza has been posted by major celebrities, world leaders, and activists across the world.
The graphic, which depicts an endless sprawl of tents in a dusty landscape, can be reshared onto Instagram ‘stories’ with just one click. Users can see which of their friends have shared the post and can add their names to the list, which neared 40 million on Wednesday morning.
The story remains on a user's profile for 24 hours.
Numerous celebrities including model sisters Bella and Gigi Hadid, Bridgerton actress Nicola Coughlan, singer and presenter Michelle Humes, Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein and actress Suranne Jones, have all shared the graphic.
The viral AI-generated graphic comes from a Malaysian/Singaporean photographer and content creator, Amirul Shah, who goes by the usernames @shahv4012 and @chaa.my on social media.
A post created by the same account (Photo: Instagram)
Most of Chaa’s posts are snaps of daily life in Singapore, including photos of his wife, animals, and cars.
His other posts about Gaza include an AI-generated image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a blood-stained prison uniform and the name “Satanyahu”.
One of the sharable posts created by the same account erases Israel from the map (Photo: Instagram)
Another of Chaa’s “shareable” posts shows a map of Israel with the country's name crossed out and replaced with Palestine. It has been reshared over 15 thousand times.
The AI Rafah graphic has been compared to the black squares that flooded social media after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Millions posted black squares in solidarity with the fight for racial justice, but some criticised it as performative activism which reduced key issues to a simple post.
The slogan “All eyes on Rafah” has been attributed to a comment made by the World Health Organization’s Palestinian director Rick Peeperkorn.
In February, Peeperkorn said "All eyes are on Rafah" after an evacuation plan was ordered by Netanyahu before implementing attacks on the city designed to eliminate Hamas' strongholds.
Some pro-Israel activists have responded to the post with graphics asking followers where their eyes were on October 7. Spurs player Manor Solomon shared one such graphic. American singer Matisyahu shared a post that said, “All eyes on 125 hostages” and another story created by the Bring Them Home Now page reads, “If your eyes are on Rafah, help us find our hostages.” It has been reshared nearly 70 thousand times.
In response, some have shared graphics which ask Instagram users to think of the hostages or the atrocities of October 7 (Photo: Instagram)
The social media posts come as the IDF escalates fighting in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
The IDF says it is carrying out limited operations in eastern Rafah along the Gaza-Egypt border. The United States and other allies have warned against a full-fledged offensive in the city, where Hamas is believed to be hiding hostages and amassing weapons in a vast network of tunnels.
According to reports, Israeli airstrikes west of Rafah killed 37 people overnight and on Tuesday, most of them sheltering in tents, according to witnesses and emergency workers.
