Resolving Issue of Blank (White) Images in Illustrator ai File

Illustrator Version: 28.0 (64-bit) OS: Windows 11 Pro

I recently encountered an issue in my Illustrator project where, inexplicably, the majority of the images turned blank (white). This problem is visible both within my project workspace and in the Links panel, where these blank images are displayed alongside the unaffected ones.

In an attempt to resolve this issue, I have tried various troubleshooting steps including toggling the GPU Preview on and off, restarting the Illustrator software, switching the document color mode, and even saving the project as a new ".eps" file, all to no avail.

I managed to rectify the issue temporarily by relinking the images manually; however, this is a very time-consuming process given the large number of photos and the fact that the original files are scattered across multiple folders. A more convenient solution would be if Illustrator prompted me to relink the images upon opening the project. However, since all the images are embedded within the project, Illustrator doesn't recognize that some of them are displaying as blank (white).

I am in search of a more efficient solution to this problem, and any advice or suggestions would be highly appreciated.