An AI-generated image depicting tent camps for displaced Palestinians with the slogan “#All Eyes on Rafah” is sweeping social media.
The post has been shared more than 47 million times on Instagram, including by celebrities like Dua Lipa, Lewis Hamilton, and Gigi and Bella Hadid.
The image and slogan went viral after an Israeli air strike and resulting fire at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah, a southern city in Gaza, earlier this week.
The Hamas-run health ministry reported that at least 45 people were killed and hundreds more wounded in the incident. Israel stated it targeted two Hamas commanders, and that the deadly fire was possibly caused by a secondary explosion.
There has been widespread international condemnation of the Israeli strike, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a “tragic mishap.” The image went viral after a young man in Malaysia posted it on his social media account, as discovered by BBC Arabic.
So how did this image come about?
Where did the slogan “#All Eyes on Rafah” start, which is also leading on X (twitter)?
The deadly incident in Rafah led to people posting clips of Richard Peeperkorn, a representative of the World Health Organization in the occupied Palestinian territories, speaking in February. He told journalists at the time, “All eyes are on Rafah,” warning against Israeli forces attacking the city.