The May 26 attack by Israel on a refugee camp in Rafah has sparked unprecedented reactions. The hashtag “All Eyes on Rafah” and an AI-generated image have been shared over 46 million times on Instagram to draw attention to the situation in Rafah.
International media have described the aftermath of Israel’s attacks on Rafah, particularly the May 26 attack on the refugee camp, using the phrase “global outrage,” reflected in the hashtag “All Eyes on Rafah.”
This hashtag first appeared on an AI-generated image showing rows of refugee tents on Monday, a day after the May 26 attack. It has since been used millions of times on social media to condemn Israel’s attacks and draw attention to Rafah.
Following the start of Israel’s war against Gaza, various parts of the strip, including northern and central regions, were extensively and lethally bombed. Palestinians living in northern and central Gaza were displaced and sought refuge in Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip, which has now become the site of Israeli military operations.
According to Al Jazeera, by February of this year, about half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population had been displaced to Rafah. These displaced people were still in refugee camps when Israel announced plans for a ground operation in Rafah.
Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative in Palestine, first used the phrase “all eyes” in February in response to the imminent Israeli attack on Rafah. However, Al Jazeera, quoting Amira Kawash, a UK-based Palestinian-Iraqi-American artist and researcher, reported that “All Eyes on Rafah” likely originated from her statements, as her work explores the impact of AI on Palestinian lives and narratives.
The “All Eyes on Rafah” image appeared on Monday, a day after the Israeli attack on the refugee camp. Reuters reported the day after the attack that an airstrike hit a refugee camp in Rafah, killing 45 people, including children and women, and injuring over 200 others.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) shared a post on the social network X, stating: “Gaza has become hell on earth. Families continue to seek refuge and try to escape the war, but there is no such thing as a safe place in the Gaza Strip. No one is safe: not civilians, not aid workers.”
