The template has sparked debate (Picture: Instagram)
If you’re on Instagram, you’ve probably seen it by now. The AI-generated story template showing a cluster of tents with the words ‘All eyes on Rafah’ printed in bold letters.
In recent days as Israeli attacks on Rafah increase, social media users have begun posting the template as a form of protest against the IDF’s actions – but the template itself has sparked debate.
Days ago, at least 35 people were killed in ‘barbaric’ strikes on a refugee camp in the city of Rafah, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Makeshift shelters were supposed to be safe havens for civilians, yet they became targets of ‘inhumane’ violence over the weekend.
Footage being shared by journalists on the ground show bodies covered in ashes on the ground, women and children ‘dismembered and burnt alive’.
The strikes, which were called a ‘tragic mistake’ by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu,have sparked international outrage, as well as a bizarre template making the rounds on Instagram.
Some burned to death, others were killed instantly (Picture: Getty)
Celebrities have begun sharing the Rafah template (Picture: Getty)
The image has been shared on Instagram stories of celebrities ranging from Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan to Love Island stars.
But two criticisms have been brought to the image: one, that it’s AI generated when images from the ground are available.
The second – is sharing the template just a form of ‘performative activism’?
Some social media users have pointed out the template is reminiscent of the black squares posted on Instagram during 2020’s Black Lives Matter movement after the death of George Floyd.
Then, many saw the black squares as a continuation of the silence and avoidance that perpetuates racism in the first place.
Despite these concerns, the image has been shared more than 30 million times on Instagram alone in the last 24 hours.
Social media consultant Matt Navarra told NBC News: ‘It’s possibly circumventing some of the automated moderation on the platform, because it’s an AI-generated image and there isn’t anything in there that is massively dangerous or controversial.’
The image was created by Instagram user @shahv4012, who has made multiple templates during the ongoing war.
A report by Human Rights Watch found that Meta – which owns Facebook and Instagram – censored voices in in support of Palestine after the October 7 massacre sparked the conflict.
What’s happening in Rafah?
One child was beheaded in the carnage (Picture: AFP)
The bodies are continuing to pile up in Rafah (Picture: Reuters)
Recent videos circulating of the attacks on Rafah camps included a clip of a man holding the body of newborn – beheaded and ripped to shreds in the strike.
The clip has sparked further outrage and prompted conversation yet again on Israel’s continued attacks on Palestinian civilian areas.
Many of the Palestinian refugees in Rafah have already moved numerous times since the IDF launched military operations in Gaza in October.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it is reviewing reports of their strike sparking fires and harming civilians, but claimed it had hit a Hamas facility.
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It claimed to have taken out Yassin Rabia, Hamas’ commander in the West Bank, and another senior official Israel blames for carrying out terrorist attacks in Israel.
Confirming a precision strike in the Tal as Sultan neighbourhood, northwest of Rafah, the IDF claimed the strike was ‘based on precise intelligence’.
The ICJ ordered Israel to ‘immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah’ after an application by South Africa accusing it of genocide.
A judge said the situation there had deteriorated since it last told Israel to improve things.
Israel dismissed the allegations and said it would ignore the order, the BBC reported.
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