This handout satellite image courtesy of Maxar Technologies shows a view of the displacement camp in the Tal al-Sultan area of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, near a UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) facility, on May 29, 2024. A strike on Tal Al-Sultan late on May 26 that Israel said targeted Hamas militants killed 45 people, according to Palestinian officials.
| Photo Credit: AFP

The loss of Palestinian lives in the recent Israeli bombing of Rafah is “heartbreaking”, India said on Thursday.

Nearly 45 Palestinians, including children, were killed when Israeli bombs hit tents housing displaced persons in Rafah on May 26. The Indian stand on the carnage was shared by the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, during the weekly press briefing.

He also highlighted that India had recognised the Palestinian state way back in the late 1980s.

“The heartbreaking loss of civilian lives in the displacement camp in Rafah is a matter of deep concern. We have consistently called for protection of civilian population and respect for international humanitarian law in the ongoing conflict. We also note that the Israeli side has already accepted responsibility for it as a tragic accident and announced an investigation into the incident,” said Mr. Jaiswal.

Two-state solution

The bombing of the tents that housed displaced Gazans heightened the global outrage against the ongoing Israeli campaign in the Gaza Strip that has so far killed more than 36,000 people. This incident coincided with Spain, Ireland and Norway granting recognition to the Palestinian state. In response to a question, Mr. Jaiswal reiterated India’s support for a “two-state solution” to the Israel-Palestinian crisis.

“We have long supported a two-state solution, which entails the establishment of a sovereign, viable, and independent state of Palestine within recognised and mutually agreed borders, living side by side with Israel in peace,” said Mr. Jaiswal when asked about the move by Ireland, Norway and Spain.

‘Objective view’ in Pakistan

The official spokesperson also took note of the remarks by former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that Islamabad had violated the 1999 Lahore pact signed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Mr. Sharif on February 21, 1999, However, months later, the Kargil war broke out.

“You are aware of our position on the issue. I need not have to reiterate that. We note that there is an objective view emerging in Pakistan as well on this matter,” Mr. Jaiswal said to a question during the interaction.

Earlier acknowledging that Pakistani missteps in 1999 that hurt the prospects of peace between India and Pakistan, Mr. Sharif said on Wednesday, “On May 28, 1998, Pakistan carried out five nuclear tests. After that Vajpayee saheb came here and we made an agreement. But we violated that agreement….it was our fault,” Mr. Sharif said, after he became the president of the PML-N for six years.  

After taking charge, the former PM, who also participated in the “mini SAARC summit” of May 2014 in Delhi, presented his version of the events that took place in Pakistan over the past three decades. He said the U.S. government under President Bill Clinton tried to stop Pakistan from going nuclear and offered $5 billion for ensuring that, but he had rejected the offer and went ahead with nuclear tests at Chagai range in Balochistan on May 28, 1998, after the Pokhran nuclear blasts by India on May 11, 1998.

India-Pakistan ties have been frozen in animosity since 2016 after India blamed Pakistan-based terror outfits for attacking military installations in Pathankot and Uri, following which India carried out a “surgical strike” along the Line of Control.

Smoke billows from the skyline of Gaza, as charred and injured bodies lie strewn around a destroyed ‘safety zone’ camp. Israel’s military operations in Rafah this week killed 45 civilians and injured hundreds, mostly women and children. In response, outraged international communities are condemning Israeli attacks in Rafah and calling for ceasefire. 

The outcry has been championed on social media through the ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ campaign, shared by over 46 million users including celebrities, activists and politicians, it has brought large-scale attention to the crisis in Gaza. 

Yet, the AI-generated campaign image, devoid of any violence or destruction, has raised criticisms about performative activism and erasing the brutal reality of the Gaza crisis. 

Experts say the image could have been generated by AI to bypass Meta’s content moderation policies and ensure that it doesn’t get taken down for depiction of violence or destruction.

However, the viral image has drawn criticism as many are questioning the ethics of using an AI-generated image that does not show any of the brutalities in Rafah, especially when large amounts of footage of death and destruction are being shared daily by civilians, aid workers and journalists on ground in Gaza. 

Those criticising the trend have blamed the “sanitisation” of the conflict to make it social-media-friendly and risk erasing the truth of how grave of a crisis Palestinians are currently in. The lack of any human beings in the ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ image does not aptly capture the atrocities being committed against the displaced people of Gaza, they argued.

“Palestinians didn’t go through and document the genocide happening just for us to use [an] AI image to raise awareness,” an X user said.

i know people mean well but the palestinians didn’t go through and document the genocide happening just for us to use AI image to raise awareness on what’s happening.

bear witness to their resilience, resistance, and eventual liberation.

all eyes on rafah. free palestine.
pic.twitter.com/vt05ob5vUU

— R (@arhcamt) May 29, 2024

The AI-generated ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ campaign image features unnaturally symmetrical and pristine tent camps with no humans in sight.

Another concern is that the campaign is veering towards performative activism, drawing parallels with the ‘black square’ Black Lives Matter social media trend in 2020. Many are sharing the ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ image without doing anything else to show solidarity with Palestinians. A charged levelled mainly towards celebrities, critics claim that sharing the image after months of silence on the issue may be a way to avoid backlash for not supporting the cause earlier. 

Another X user alleged that celebrities are partaking in the trend because it is “aesthetically pleasing”, “vague and removed from reality”. 

I feel like the main reason celebrities are using this AI image for All Eyes on Rafah is because it’s “aesthetically pleasing” and now seen as trendy. This along with it being vague and removed from reality.

This is not an AI generated genocide. Its real. Use real photos. https://t.co/0VT10udK8B

— Kristin Siân Bingham (@KristinBingham) May 29, 2024

One user labelled the trend as “slacktivism”, and instead urged people to donate and take part in boycotts. 

imagine if every single individual sharing the All Eyes on Rafah post instead shared and donated to the PCRF relief fund. What Palestinians actually need for food, safety and border help. Criticism is totally valid for people ignoring boycotts/donations but sharing AI photos.

— nmm (@niamhmarym) May 28, 2024

To combat this ‘slacktivism’, people have begun sharing actionable ways to support Gazans instead – by signing petitions, joining demonstrations etc. 

If your friends shared the AI “All Eyes On Rafah” pic and it was the first time they’ve done something during this war, encourage them to go to https://t.co/WqnKDia4WR and take 30 seconds and email their elected officials:

— jordan (@JordanUhl) May 29, 2024

Visceral scenes of death and destruction have been the reality for Palestinians since the Israel-Hamas conflict began 8 months ago, and it seems unlikely to end anytime soon. Israel’s announced today that they expect the conflict to continue for another 7 months, until the end of 2024. Amid global protests, student encampments, and boycotts, social media has become another avenue to express dissent. 

New Delhi:

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 militants also seized about 250 hostages, dozens of whom were released during a week-long truce in November. Israel believes that 99 hostages still in militants’ 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 militant standing in front of a baby.

We will NEVER stop talking about October 7th.

We will NEVER stop fighting for the hostages. pic.twitter.com/XoFqAf1IjM

— Israel ישראל (@Israel) May 29, 2024

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.

Former US President Donald Trump recently slammed the anti-Israel protests erupting across college campuses as a “radical revolution” and vowed to deport foreign student protesters if he wins the upcoming presidential election. According to the Washington Post, Mr Trump, while speaking at a donor event in New York, called the demonstrators part of a “radical revolution” and promised to crush pro-Palestinian protests on US college campuses. He also praised the New York Police Department for clearing the campuses at Columbia University and said other cities needed to follow suit, saying “It (anti-Israel protests) has to be stopped now”. 

“One thing I do is, any student that protests, I throw them out of the country. You know, there are a lot of foreign students. As soon as they hear that, they’re going to behave,” Donald Trump said on May 14, the outlet reported citing donors at the event. 

“If you get me elected, and you should really be doing this, if you get me reelected, we’re going to set that movement back 25 or 30 years,” he added. 

Washington Post cited donors who were present at the event. Speaking behind closed doors, the former president also said that he supports Israel’s right to continue “its war on terror” and boasted of his White House policies toward Israel. 

Meanwhile, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt blamed US President Joe Biden for empowering the protesters. “Joe Biden has sided with radical leftist Democrats like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Talib and empowered antisemitic protestors destroying our college campuses and threatening to undermine our democracy,” Ms Leavitt said.

“President Trump will side with Jewish Americans and American citizens, period, and he will not tolerate terrorist sympathizers on our college campuses,” she added. 

Also Read | Millions Share ‘All Eyes On Rafah’ On Instagram: What The Image Means

Previously, Mr Trump had publicly vowed to clamp down on anti-Israel protesters. Weeks after the October 7 Hamas attack, Mr Trump pledged to deport the “Resident aliens” who joined “pro-jihadists protest”. “If you hate America, if you want to abolish Israel, if you sympathize with jihadists, then we don’t want you in our country, and you’re not going to be getting into our country,” Mr Trump said, as per New York Post. 

“I will cancel the student visas of Hamas sympathizers on college campuses and all resident aliens who join in pro-Jihadists protests,” he went on. “Come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” he said. 

In the recent meeting, Mr Trump again supported Israel’s right to continue its attack on Gaza. “But I’m one of the only people that says that now. And a lot of people don’t even know what October 7th is,” he said. 

Indian cricket captain Rohit Sharma’s wife Ritika Sajdeh was among those who shared the “All Eyes On Rafah” image in her Instagram Stories. The social media campaign, calling for attention to what’s happening in Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, gained momentum after Israeli strikes on Sunday night killed 45 Palestinians at a camp.  

While Ms Sajdeh deleted the post within hours, several users accused her of being “selective” in speaking against oppression and atrocities. 

People have dropped comments on Ms Sajdeh’s birthday post for Rohit Sharma. The India opener turned 37 on April 30.

A person wrote, “Kyun madam? Palestinians se itni humdardi kyu (Why such sympathy with Palestinians, Madam?).”

“As a Rohit Sharma fan … I’m ashamed of you,” said another user.

However, there were a handful of people who lauded Ms Sajdeh for supporting Palestine.

“My respect for Hitman and you after the story,” read a comment.

A user said, “Thank you for supporting Palestine.”

“Respect for Rohit Sharma and his wife” was the sentiment online. 

What Is “All Eyes On Rafah” campaign

Celebs, human rights groups and common men and women have been sharing the “All Eyes On Rafah” image on their social media platforms to raise awareness about the ongoing Israeli onslaught in Gaza. On Monday, after the latest Israeli strikes killed 45 Palestinians at a tent camp, Bollywood celebs, including some A-listers, shared what’s become a global image now.

Among those who extended solidarity with the people of Palestine were Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Triptii Dimri, Samantha Prabhu, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Swara Bhasker, and Dia Mirza, among others.

Among international figures, Australian cricketer Travis Head, British singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock, model Bella Hadid and actresses Saoirse-Monica Jackson and Susan Sarandon also drew attention to Rafah, where roughly 1.5 million Palestinians have sought refuge after fleeing Israeli bombings from other parts of Gaza.