This week, the catchphrase, which has served as a rallying cry for pro-Palestinian protestors for months, went viral on social media.
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| Earlier last month, at a rally in Naples, Italy, the words "All Eyes on Rafah" were displayed.Give credit...Ciro Fusco/EPA, sourced from Shutterstock |
Following an Israeli bombardment in the Gazan city that resulted in the deaths of numerous people and sparked international outcry, the phrase "All Eyes on Rafah" has been trending on social media this week.
The term has been a mainstay in the social and cultural discourse surrounding Israel's conflict with Hamas in the region for some months. It has occasionally become popular on social media, especially in light of the escalating Israeli military attacks in the city, which is situated in the southern Gaza Strip near the Egyptian border.
The phrase was trending once more on Wednesday, this time via an image that seemed to have been created by artificial intelligence that featured a field of tents housing refugees and the words "All Eyes on Rafah." Over 38 million people have shared a single version of the image on Instagram.
The World Health Organization's office head for Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Rik Peeperkorn, may have coined the phrase in February. Speaking during a press conference, Mr. Peeperkorn described the Israeli military's escalating campaign in the southern Gaza strip.
“All eyes are on Rafah,” Mr. Peeperkorn said at the time.
Pro-Palestinian and humanitarian organizations quickly took the comment and used it to highlight Gaza and Rafah, which were among the final destinations for Palestinian refugees from other parts of the region. Save the Children International, Oxfam, and later pro-Palestinian advocacy organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace were among them.
This proverb was also spoken during the pro-Palestinian demonstrations that took place earlier this month on Western campuses. World leaders swiftly decried the terrible attack that occurred in Rafah on Sunday. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the civilian deaths as a "tragic accident" and claimed that two Hamas officials had been killed in the attack.