TOPLINE
As Israeli troops continue their progress in a ground offensive on the heavily populated city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, a months-old campaign with the slogan “All Eyes on Rafah” has picked up steam, particularly in western Europe, Australia and India as a call for awareness of the ongoing war from activists and humanitarian groups.
KEY FACTS
The slogan seems to have stemmed from a comment by Rick Peeperkorn, director of the World Health Organization’s Office of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, who in February said “All eyes are on Rafah” days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an evacuation plan be created for the city ahead of planned attacks to eliminate what Netanyahu claims are the last remaining strongholds of the militant group Hamas.
The phrase is meant as a request for bystanders to not look away from what’s happening in the city of Rafah—where as many as 1.4 million people are sheltering after fleeing from violent fighting elsewhere in Gaza—as Israel continues its offensive despite the large civilian population.
Organizations and lobbying groups like Save the Children, Oxfam, Americans for Justice in Palestine Action, Jewish Voice for Peace and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign then repeated the slogan, and it has been used as a rallying cry at protests in Paris, London, the Netherlands, New York City, Los Angeles and beyond.
A number of celebrities in India, including actors Varun Dhawan, Aly Goni, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Tripti Dimri, posted identical “All Eyes on Rafah” graphics to their Instagram stories Tuesday, and other celebrities who have spoken out include Australian cricket player Travis Head, British singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock, model Bella Hadid and actresses Saoirse-Monica Jackson and Susan Sarandon.
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There are more than 195,000 posts with millions of views for the hashtag #AllEyesOnRafah on TikTok and the topic was trending on Instagram on Tuesday, on which another almost 100,000 posts have been made.
The most popular videos on TikTok have come from Palestinian American pop singer Zach Matari, whose posts with the slogan have racked up millions of views this month, and a number of other pro-Palestinian creators including Lubna Alhilo, Liz Kuhn and Reema Bassoumi also account for some of the most popular videos.
NEWS PEG
Israel has faced international outrage since a strike Sunday that was targeting a Hamas compound ended up killing dozens of people in Rafah, including civilians. Netanyahu on Monday said the civilian deaths were a “tragic accident,” but assaults continued Tuesday, The New York Times reported. Another 21 people were reportedly killed after an airstrike on a “humanitarian area” in west Rafah, AFP reported, though the Israeli army has denied involvement.
KEY BACKGROUND
The possibility of mass casualties in Rafah has been floated for months as Israel pushes to eliminate remaining outposts of Hamas, the militant group that attacked the country last October and sparked a bloody war in the Middle East. In February, Israeli officials said Rafah was the last place in Gaza with a powerful Hamas presence and announced its plans to move forward with attacks. Months of stop-and-start negotiations between the two sides followed, and delegates to Hamas and Israel met in Egypt for cease-fire talks that mediators hoped would end the war. After the attack in Rafah on Sunday, a Hamas official told Al Jazeera the group would not be participating in further Gaza truce talks. The Israeli military ordered evacuations of areas east of the city center, near Gaza’s border with Israel, ahead of the Rafah offensive. The Tal al Sultan neighborhood that was later bombed was believed to be in a safe zone.
CHIEF CRITIC
Leaders around the world, including President Joe Biden, have criticized Israel for pursuing attacks in Rafah due to the more than 1 million civilians currently living there. Biden last month told CNN that while the United States would supply defensive arms to Israel, “we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used” for an attack in Rafah. The International Criminal Court confirmed last week that it is seeking arrest warrants for both Hamas and Israeli officials—including Netanyahu—for alleged war crimes, but the court has no way to enforce its own warrants even after they are issued.
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