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Israel Counters “All Eyes On Rafah” Pic After Social Media Outrage

News On Time Desk 30 May 2024

Israel: Celebrities, sportspersons, and millions of other social media users across the globe have been sharing the ‘All Eyes On Rafah’ to bring focus on Israel’s air strikes in Rafah, a southern city in war-torn Gaza. At least 45 civilians, including children, were killed at a refugee camp in Rafah in an Israeli air strike to destroy Hamas. The incident has triggered international outrage, deepening the global isolation facing Israel over the war in Gaza.

Israel though in response has shared an image of its own asking people why they did not post about the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians. The terrorists also seized about 250 hostages, dozens of whom were released during a week-long truce in November. Israel believes that 99 hostages still in terrorists’ hands remain alive and 31 have died.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign to destroy Hamas has killed at least 31,112 people, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Amid widespread condemnation, Israel also denied targetting the Rafah camp and said that the damage was caused by a secondary fire caused by a rocket hitting a Hamas weapons facility.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government shared a picture with the text “Where were your eyes on October 7”. The image depicts a Hamas terrorist standing in front of a baby.

The response came hours after the ‘All Eyes On Rafah’ went viral with nearly 45 million users sharing it on Instagram. The image 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.

Some of the Indian celebrities who posted the “All Eyes On Rafah,” image were Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Varun Dhawan, and Samantha Ruth Prabhu.