Why the uncanny “All eyes on Rafah” image went so viral

If you’ve scrolled through Instagram Stories this week, you were likely met with a single image over and over: a desert camp in front of a dramatic mountain range, filled with endless rows of colorful tents and white ones in the middle spelling out the words “All eyes on Rafah.”

The image has now been shared on at least 40 million Instagram Stories, including those of Palestinian American models Gigi and Bella Hadid, actors Priyanka Chopra and Nicola Coughlan, and artist Kehlani. It’s certainly not the only image to go viral that attempts to bring attention to the plight of Palestinians during Israel’s seven-month assault on Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attack, and not even the only one this week (another, which groups several headlines in which Israeli officials claim its deadly attacks were “mistakes,” has seen wide traction). But it’s unlike many of the other posts to circulate on social media during the war, in which Israeli forces have killed more than 35,000 people (more than half of whom the UN says are women and children) and displaced around 1.7 million more. That’s because it appears to be AI-generated.