If you're on social media, you'll likely have seen the “All Eyes on Rafah” image all across your feed. "All eyes on Rafah", the text on the image reads, atop a field of refugee tents neatly stretching into the distance, nestled between a hill range and cloudy skies.
However, the image is not from Rafah in Gaza, and it surfaced after an Israeli strike on a tent encampment for displaced people in Rafah, killing 45 people and eliciting worldwide outrage.
This "All eyes on Rafah" image that has been shared more than 47 million times on Instagram, experts agree is AI-generated. It has also become one of the defining images of the Israel-Gaza war to date.
While the real photos this week were of Palestinians burned alive and decapitated human bodies in their tents following the Israeli air strike and fire, this viral image showed a sanitised terrain with neatly placed refugee tents, surrounded by palm trees and sandy hills. Decode spoke to some photojournalists currently in Palestine and asked them why they think an AI image had the highest reach in the conflict’s reportage history.
Hatem Hany, a journalist currently covering the war zone said, “The image of artificial intelligence gained global attention because the world was tired of images of blood and murder and had become normal images of it.”
But the trend of sharing this viral image has also brought about criticism as desensitised activism which is only performative, and some say even denounces the hard work of reporting real photos and videos from the war zone of Palestinian journalists.
What prompted “All Eyes on Rafah”?
By February, the remaining Gaza population had been pushed into Rafah. Israel then announced its plans to launch a ground operation on Rafah, claiming that there is a Hamas stronghold there. This week, the Israel Defense Forces expanded operations, pushing deeper into a “safe zone” claiming that they are central to Hamas operations — despite an order by the International Court of Justice for Israel to halt military operations there.
On the back of Israel’s military operation this week, the “All Eyes on Rafah” image emerged, garnering attention from celebrities and television personalities across the world, even those who had previously not commented on the conflict.
The image was first shared as a sticker by Instagram user @shahv4012. Its non-graphic nature has certainly helped it bypass social media censorship, also adding to its popularity. According to 404Media, the original image was made by a woman named Zila AbKa, who posted it to the “Prompters Malaya” Facebook group on February 14. The Prompters Malaya group has members posting thousands of AI-generated images per day.
On February 14, AbKa posted the earliest version of the viral “All Eyes on Rafah” image with their watermark. However, it was edited to remove the watermark and changed to a vertical aspect ratio for Instagram.
But why share an AI-generated image instead of actual graphic footage coming from the scenes?
Hatem Hany, who has over 297,000 followers on Instagram, has covered the war closely. He believes that although sanitised, the absence of bloodshed is what has pushed the image to its viral reach. Although distanced from the spectacle of war, the All Eyes on Rafah story has signalled a symbol of solidarity and Hatem sees this as a positive thing. “(This image must prompt people) to see the facts and know how the people of Gaza live,” added Hamy. “And it is my duty to bring out the truth.”
Some activists and researchers have compared the AI image to the black screens that people uploaded during the Black Lives Matter movement after George Floyd’s assassination in the US or the pink triangle from the AIDS movement.
Why is ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ so viral?
The image when shared as a story allowed users to click on “Add Yours” and repost it with their own captions. While the AI image was more palatable to viewers than real photos of Gaza, which show dead bodies and violence, it also managed to skirt through the graphic filters and algorithms of platforms like Instagram. Also like any viral trend, the high number of shares prompted more users to join in and feel like a part of something.
Ahmed al-Danaf, another journalist working out of Palestine spoke to Decode about how the image made viewers pause for a moment to look at Rafah from a “new perspective”. “Graphic visual images carry within them many connotations, and the bloody reality may bring about numbing feelings in people,” he said. According to him, this AI image motivates people to get over their emotional fatigue and rejoin the conversation.
“The painful truth is that the repetition of violent images may have made the human scenes lose some of their original impact. On the other hand, (this picture) could renew interest and turn attention back to the issue,” Ahmed added. Ahmed has over 60,000 followers on Instagram and has worked as a cameraperson for many years, now solidifying his base as a conflict photojournalist in Palestine.
Although he admits that platforms like Meta may be downplaying the evidence of destruction in Palestine right now. “Their censorship policies prevent content from being freely disseminated, restricting the Palestinian narrative and affecting its ability to gain sympathy,” he said. So he agrees that in this, AI images can at least get more people to participate in social media protests.
However, critics have argued that AI-generated images aestheticise and normalise scenes of horrific violence against Palestinians and the world must view graphic imagery as a wake-up call to do better than use AI to make reports safe and digestible.
So is there a way to demonstrate solidarity with the Palestinians while promoting impactful real-life imagery? Ahmed says, “There is an urgent need to ensure a balance between a journalist’s freedom of expression and the obligations of digital platforms regarding content policies, to ensure that live Palestinian testimonies are conveyed to the world honestly.”
