The hashtag #IfHitlerWasAlive has been making the rounds on Twitter recently, partially perpetuated by Palestinian activists looking to create a strong reaction to Israeli operations in Gaza which began on July 8.

As the Israel-Gaza conflict has picked up pace recently, pro-Palestinian supporters have taken to social media sites using the hashtag to express criticism of Israel's decision to intensify operations in Gaza.

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However, the majority of Palestinians have called out those using the #IfHitlerWasAlive hashtag for being bigoted and hateful. Other Palestinian activists have stated that such reprehensible tags have "no place in Palestinian activism."

As people on both sides of the spectrum look to diffuse tensions, there seem to remain quite a few hoping instead to inflame them.

According to reports, in the last 12 months the word "Hitler" has trended and been used on Twitter a record number of 10 million times.

With Germany's recent win in the 2014 World Cup, Hitler hashtags also made a disturbing comeback with the #HitlerDidNothingWrong tag running rampant on social media websites.

"I think the last time the Germans destroyed someone like that was WW2. #HitlerDidNothingWrong," one user tweeted.

With both hashtags, condemnation has been robust as other site users attempt to put the offensive slogans to rest.

"#HitlerWasRight? Are you even thinking before saying such things? #PrayForGaza but lets not get carried away," one Twitter user noted.

Experts have pointed to the anonymity of social media allowing people to express themselves in ways they generally wouldn't in everyday life as the reason for why such tags have seen this type of widespread popularity.

Accordingly, the use of such terms probably existed way before the internet, authorities state, but in the modern age various internet platforms allow invasive catchphrases to gain traction and become more abrasively visible to people around the globe.

Tagsifhitlerwasalive, hitler hashtag, pro Palestinian hitler hashtag