Alia Bhatt, Sonakshi Sinha, Varun Dhawan Post 'All Eyes On Rafah' As Israel Attacks Palestinian City

The phrase “All Eyes On Rafah” has been gaining momentum on social media after Israeli air strikes killed 40 Palestinians and injured dozens in an area in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Several Indian celebrities including Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Sonakshi Sinha, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Triptii Dimri, Dia Mirza and Richa Chadha among others have expressed their solidarity with Palestinians by sharing the viral phrase on their respective Instagram stories.

A while ago, Alia reshared a post by an Instagram page ‘the motherhood home’ on her story and wrote #AllEyesOnRafah. The post talked about how all children deserve “love, safety, peace and life”.

Varun, Sonakshi, Samantha and Triptii also used the viral phrase in their respective stories on Instagram. Meanwhile, Richa Chadha called out those who are still supporting Israel.

While the Israeli military said its air force struck a Hamas compound in Rafah and the strike was carried out with “precise ammunition and on the basis of precise intelligence”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that a “tragic mistake” had been made.

“Despite our utmost efforts not to harm innocent civilians, last night there was a tragic mishap,” Netanyahu said Monday in an address to Israel’s parliament. “We are investigating the incident and will obtain a conclusion because this is our policy.”

Sunday night’s attack has pushed the overall Palestinian death toll in the war above 36,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and noncombatants in its tally.

Hamas triggered the war with its October 7 attack on southern Israeli communities, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages. Efforts to agree a halt to the fighting and return more than 120 hostages have been blocked for weeks but there were some signs of movement this weekend following meetings between Israeli and US intelligence officials and Qatar’s prime minister.