Celebrities, athletes, and millions of social media users around the world areFocus on RaphaThe campaign was launched to draw attention to Israeli air strikes on the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, where at least 45 civilians, including children, were killed in an Israeli air strike aimed at eliminating Hamas in the refugee camp there. The incident sparked international outrage and further isolated Israel globally over the Gaza conflict.
In response, Israel posted an image asking why there were no protests, given that an Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel left some 1,160 people dead, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages. Dozens of hostages were released during a ceasefire in November, but Israel believes 99 of the hostages are still alive and 31 were killed.
At least 31,112 people have been killed in Israeli operations against Hamas, according to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip's health ministry. Amid widespread condemnation, Israel denied targeting the Rafah refugee camp and blamed the damage on secondary fires caused by rockets hitting a Hamas weapons facility.
A post by Benjamin Netanyahu's government on X (formerly Twitter) featured an image of a Hamas fighter standing in front of a baby with the text: “Where were your eyes on October 7th?” The reaction came after the spread of the “Spotlight on Rafa” campaign, which was shared by around 45 million users on Instagram. The campaign image depicts a row of tents in a desert area, symbolizing the displacement of Palestinians during Israel's military action against Hamas.
Indian celebrities like Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Aalia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu also participated in the 'All Eyes On Rafah' campaign.
