Even the Gaza Zoo in the north of the territory, home to about 100 species of animals, was not spared the wrath of Israeli aggression. Hyenas, wolves, and rare Palestinian foxes were among the victims.
Whilst Palestinians often use their bare hands to dig through the rubble of destroyed buildings to get to loved ones, the same effort is employed to rescue their furry friends like the many cats who call Gaza home.
There are numerous videos of children showing off their cats, some rescued from the rubble, or others they managed to take along when they fled their homes.
Even though food is scarce in Gaza, there’s always some kept aside for the pets.
In a video posted a few days before he was killed in an Israeli airstrike, photojournalist Montaser Al-Sawaf is seen feeding the local cats amidst the rubble. "What’s the difference between her and a human?” asks a young boy, Muhammad Nasir, as he cradles his cat, Lulu, in his arms. “It’s just the look and voice, that’s it.”
“A soul, she has one,” he explains. “She has feelings, if she doesn’t have water, she gets thirsty. And she gets hungry and feels.”
In another video, a young girl, Sara Tamimi, 13, is stroking her cat. She says, “Simsim is a living thing just like us, who is going through our suffering as well, has fears like we do, and this is not his home, nor is he eating his food.”
Simsim and other cats provide much-needed solace and distraction for Gaza’s children from the turmoil around them.
Another video shows a young boy holding his cat, while he says: “The whole world is scared of the war, even the cats.” He said they had found the cat hiding in places “we don’t know about, but this cat revealed them.”
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