All Eyes on Rafah Meaning: Why are Bollywood celebs using the trending hashtag to express solidarity with Palestine?

All Eyes on Rafah Meaning: Almost 8-month long Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is refusing to die and is becoming more brutal as both parties fail to agree on a truce deal. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) started airstrikes on a refugee camp at Rafah and killed more than 45 people, including children, sparking a global outrage. The social media platforms were filled with posts condemning Israel's action in Rafah, and an AI-generated image saying "All Eyes on Rafah" going viral across the internet. 

More than 35,000 people, mostly women and children, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, which began after October 7. The United States, Egypt and Qatar made multiple attempts at negotiating a truce deal between Israel and Hamas, but both parties doesn't look in the mood of peace. 

The fresh attack on Rafah by Israeli forces came days after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu-led Israeli regime to stop its military operation in Gaza. 

What does "All Eyes on Rafah" mean?

"All Eyes on Rafah" is a social media trend through which people on the internet, especially influential celebrities, are showing their solidarity with the people of Palestine and also sending a message to the Israeli government that the world is paying attention to the killing of civilians in the Rafah region of Gaza. 

The post with the image of "All Eyes on Rafah" was widely shared across the internet by global celebrities, including from India like actors Alia Bhatt, Dia Mirza, Richa Chadha, Kareena Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Rashmika Mandanna, etc. Team India captain Rohit Sharma's wife, Ritika Sajdeh, was among the people who shared the "All Eyes on Rafah" post and faced intense trolling for the same. 

What did Israel say about the Rafah attack?

In a statement, the Israel representative called the loss of civilian lives "a tragic accident" and said that the massive blaze which broke out at the Rafah refugee camp was not due to Israeli airstrikes alone but also due to secondary explosions conducted possibly by Palestinian militants.