Social media behemoth Instagram has reportedly removed an AI-generated image, ‘Where were you on October 7?’, shared to counter the pro-Palestinian ‘All Eyes On Rafah’ propaganda campaign, presumably an inorganic and paid social media trend that saw support pouring in from celebrities around the world after Israel launched an offensive in the city of Rafah, the last remaining Hamas stronghold, in its pursuit to destroy the terror outfit responsible for the October 7 attacks.
According to a report published by The Times of Israel which quoted Channel 12, Instagram has removed a pro-Israel AI-generated image that was created to counter a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel campaign on social media, without providing any explanation.
With the war in Israel escalating, several international celebrities and Indian celebrities started expressing their support for Palestinians and Hamas, especially following the recent Rafah operation. An AI-generated image featuring tents in the desert with the caption “ALL EYES ON RAFAH” has gone viral on Instagram, garnering over 35 million shares in just 24 hours.
A supporter of Israel, in retaliation, created a similar AI-generated image stating, “Where were your eyes on October 7?” The image shows an armed Hamas terrorist standing in front of a small, red-haired baby, referencing one-year-old Kfir Bibas, who has been held hostage by Hamas along with his family since October 7. Others have used the caption “If your eyes are on Rafah, help us find our hostages.”
The image instantly went viral among sympathisers and supporters of Israel who tried countering the Hamas propaganda by highlighting the ordeal they had to face during the October 7 terror attacks, when the terrorists from Gaza went on a rampage across the border in the Israeli towns, killing, maiming, and injuring people in their wake. Among those killed are women, children, elderly, highlighting the complete abandonment and utter disregard Hamas terrorists showed towards their victims. One woman, Shani Louk, whose naked body was paraded by the Hamas terrorists, became an enduring symbol of the enormity of the attack faced by Israel. The terrorists took over 200 people from Israel captive and took them to Gaza, triggering an unprecedented escalation in the conflict that has simmered for over one and a half decades.
In its retaliation, Israel launched a military offensive, systematically flushing out what it calls Hamas shelters and secret passageways that the Jewish Nation asserts had been the nerve centres of the terror group and used by its terrorists to launch attacks against Israel. Tel Aviv is now engaged in an offensive in Rafah, a Gazan town situated in the southeast of the Palestinian enclave and close to the Egypt border. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly vowed that Israel won’t stop until it has irreversibly incapacitated and destroyed Hamas.
While ‘All Eyes On Rafah’ is still being widely shared on Instagram, users who posted ‘Where were your eyes on October 7?’ AI-image assert that their story has abruptly vanished, including from archives, suggesting that the social media platform may have removed the picture. In our search, we couldn’t find ‘Where were your eyes on October 7?’ posts while ‘All Eyes On Rafah’ Instagram stories are visible.
