If you're on social media, you've probably seen this image before. 

It's an illustration of what looks like tents spelling out the words "ALL EYES ON RAFAH" among row upon row of makeshift shelters. 

As of Friday, it's been shared more than 47 million times, making the phrase "gone viral" something of an understatement. 

Experts say it has all the hallmarks of an AI generated image and because it's been shared widely, it has sparked a lot of conversation.

We spoke to three experts to unpack the trending image and what it says about activism and war coverage in the social media sphere. 

If you look down at the top and bottom of the image, you can see it has been shared more than 47 million times. (Instagram: shahv4012 ) What is 'All Eyes on Rafah'?

The phrase "All Eyes on Rafah" is a slogan being used by a whole bunch of different people.

Some are established organisations, like charity Save the Children, some are key campaigners and some are just everyday people. 

And while posts with the hashtag #AllEyesOnRafah are getting a lot of traction on social media, the one that's really making an impact is a single image being shared via Instagram stories. 

Instagram stories are temporary posts that users feature on their Instagram account — typically, stories disappear after 24 hours, but users might choose to preserve them in the "highlights" section of their profile. 

The "All Eyes on Rafah" image is a template, meaning people are able to easily share it via their own accounts by tapping the "add yours" button:

People can repost the image on their own stories by tapping "add yours". (Instagram)

People have the option to include their own additions to the post — like a link directing people to how they can write to their local MP about the issue — but many people are simply reposting the image as-is. 

Some are customising the template with commentary or hyperlinks.(Instagram) What does 'All Eyes on Rafah' mean?

We've tried to contact the person who first shared the template, but we're yet to hear back from them. 

And it appears they've not spoken to other media outlets, so we don't know who they are and can't say what their initial purpose for the image was.

But given the way it's being used, the intent of the original poster isn't important, Dan Angus, a professor of digital communication and director of the Queensland University's Digital Media Research Centre, says. 

"Even if there was some kind of ulterior motive in this case ... I don't think it matters much based on the way people are adopting this," Professor Angus says. 

"People are remediating it in their own way."

And the key ways people seem to be using it is to show solidarity with Palestinians affected by the war in Gaza and raise awareness about what's happening in Rafah. 

If you're after a brief summary of what's happening in Rafah, tap the link below to jump straight to a recap at the bottom of this article. 

Take me to the Rafah the recap

Where did 'All Eyes on Rafah' start?

Because we haven't been able to talk to the original poster of the image, we don't know exactly where the inspiration came from. 

Some reports have linked the phrasing of the words back to comments made by the World Health Organization's representative for the West Bank and Gaza Richard Peeperkorn during a press conference back in February. 

Dr Peeperkorn, who also goes by Rik, was in Rafah at the time but spoke at the press conference in Geneva, Switzerland via an audio call which was disrupted by connectivity issues. 

He said "all eyes" were on feared hostilities in Rafah in a press release published by the United Nations on February 14. 

Medical news site Health Policy Watch published a story the same day, with a headline that read: 'All Eyes on Rafah’ – Says Head of WHO Office for Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The Instagram template came from an Instagram account with the username shahv4012.

Although we've not been able to confirm this with the account holder, it's clear the image does not depict the scene in Rafah. 

Many experts suggesting it was created with the use of some artificial intelligence (AI) technology. 

How do we know the image isn't real?

It doesn't match the topography of Rafah. 

Professor Angus says it's got the "general aesthetic" of an AI generated image.

He pointed out the shadows in the image and the perfect symmetry of the lines of tents as key indicators.

Plus, it's also got what Professor Angus calls an "AI smoothness" to it that looks more stylised and filtered than a real photograph would look. 

It illustrates a vast expanse of tents on reddish soil with a snow-capped mountain range in the background.

And, yes, there are real tents set up for refugees on sandy terrain in Rafah, but the actual photographs taken from the area look different to the viral image. 

Here's a satellite image taken of the UN camp and tents in the Tel al-Sultan area in the western district of Rafah on Sunday:

This photo was taken via satellite. (Retuers: Maxar Technologies)

And here's a photo taken by Reuters photographers of a tent camp in the eastern part of Rafah on May 11:

This photo was taken in the eastern part of Rafah more than a fortnight ago. (Reuters: Hussam Al Masri) Why is the 'All Eyes on Rafah' Instagram template going viral?

The recent death of people sheltering in tents in Rafah has sparked international outrage, so there's strong public focus on the situation right now. 

But what makes this image in particular so shareable is the fact it doesn't contain graphic content — meaning that it's not violating social media platform guidelines. 

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, says it does allow graphic images to be shared "in the context of discussions about important issues such as human rights abuses, armed conflicts or acts of terrorism" to help people raise awareness about the situation.

But there are some limitations to this. 

Here's a bit more from Meta's violent and graphic content policy:

"To protect users from disturbing imagery, we remove content that is particularly violent or graphic, such as videos depicting dismemberment, visible innards or charred bodies." "We add a warning label to some graphic or violent imagery so that people are aware it may be sensitive before they click through. We also restrict the ability for users under 18 to view such content."

So this complicates the sharing of photos of violence on Meta's platforms. 

"Just because our [social media] newsfeed is not flooded with imagery from Rafah, violence might still be ongoing," Olga Boichak, a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney and director of its Computational Social Sciences Lab, says. 

"This image serves as a token of support for Palestinians at a time when many users might not be able to witness the events on the ground — whether because of connectivity issues, or platforms' policies on moderating violent imagery.

"This image is being shared as it evokes strong emotions at the time when witnessing the event online is not possible."

And the ease of reposting seems to be accelerating the spread of the template. 

"Virality is oftentimes an accidental phenomenon," Dr Boichak says. 

Critics of the post say it doesn't show the reality of what people are facing on the ground in Rafah. 
 (Reuters: Hatem Khaled) Will this actually achieve anything?

There's criticism that people will share the image without taking any other action to help victims — making it performative allyship or virtue signalling.

"However, these performative expressions of solidarity are not meaningless," Dr Boichak says. 

"Despite their lack of direct connection with tangible humanitarian efforts on the ground, through their visibility they help signal solidarity and support for Palestine among transnational publics."

Professor Angus agrees. 

"As this thing gathers more and more momentum, the leaders feel more pressure," he says. 

And when leaders feel pressure from their constituents, they're more likely to implement policies that have tangible impacts — things like increasing aid or applying sanctions. 

Originally, the image had no call to action, but the account holder later posted a story encouraging people to share the image "so that they are shaken and are afraid of the spread of all of us". 

Since then, the account holder has added a hyperlink to charity website Islamic Reliefs' Palestine Emergency Appeal fundraising page on their profile. 

And, as we said before, people are able to include links to the template when they share it, so they can direct followers to fundraisers, letter-writing campaigns and petitions.

Does it matter if it's an AI image?

"A human still needs to provide the prompt and can interact extensively with the AI tool to produce the desired image," Xueyin Zha, a doctoral researcher specialising in the global governance of artificial intelligence at the Australian National University, says.

"Just because something may be generated using an AI tool doesn't mean that by nature it is untrustworthy or suspect due to the lack of human input.

"An AI image generator can be thought of as a tool that aids existing human activities — like creating a new image or writing an email.

"It's just a much more powerful tool than traditional software like Photoshop."

But there's a flip side to this. 

Do AI-generated images sanitise the horrors of war?

"There's a valid critique to be made here," Professor Angus says. 

"Why can we not just look at the real images from [Rafah]?

"Those images need to be seen, particularly by our leaders to remind them of what's happening."

He says there's a risk that AI images would sanitise the situation in some way, warping people's understanding of what's happening in Rafah.

"We should be disturbed, that's the role of the media."

This raises the question about how people are consuming news content.

If people are only consuming news via images posted to social media — even accounts run by established news organisations — they're beholden to the guidelines of the social media platform. 

Whereas stories published on a news organisation's website are not. 

For example, the ABC News Instagram account is run by the ABC, but it is hosted on Meta's platform, meaning the content posted on the account must comply with Meta's rules. 

The ABC News Instagram account is run by us, but is subject to Meta's rules. (Instagram)

But articles hosted on the ABC News website and ABC News App don't have the same restrictions — although, they do have to comply with Australian law and the ABC's editorial standards. 

This is why there have been calls for people who have posted the template on their profile to also link to news coverage and authentic images. 

And people are being cautioned to think about what they're sharing. 

"We should always remember that online spaces are fertile grounds for misinformation and computational propaganda," Dr Boichak says.

"I would encourage Instagram users to check the source and credibility of the image before circulating it."

What is happening in Rafah?

Israel sent tanks on raids into Rafah, which is where many Palestinians had taken refuge after being displaced by the bombardment in other parts of the Gaza Strip. 

This came after air strikes on tent settlements in Rafah — Gaza authorities say one strike on Sunday killed at least 45 Palestinians and a second strike killed 21 people two days later. 

Israel admitted to being behind the first attack, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said was a "tragic event" and has denied responsibility for the second strike. 

These air strikes came after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to halt its military offences in the area.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) says it is targeting members of the Hamas militant group — which is the organisation behind terrorist attacks on an Israeli music festival and surrounds on October 7. 

This conflict has stretched on for seven months. 

Israel's most recent activity in Rafah has been widely condemned because of the lack of safe zones for civilians to escape the violence.  

Still from a video taken in Rafah on Sunday.(Reuters) Where is Rafah?

Rafah is one of five governorates (which is another word for province) in Gaza.

The Rafah governorate is highlighted in orange on the map below. 

Rafah City is right on the border with Egypt. 

Where is the Gaza Strip?

It's between Egypt and Israel.

It borders on the Mediterranean Sea. 

On the map below, the Gaza Strip is orange, Egypt is teal and Israel is purple.

Where can I read more about the war in Gaza?

For a long-ranging look at the conflict, our timeline summarising the key developments since October 7 is a good place to start.

The ABC also publishes regular updates on the Gaza war along with our broader international news coverage. 

We apply location tags to our stories, so if you're looking for a stream of content specific to this conflict, head to the topic index page for Israel and the Palestinian Territories. 

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