Pets in Gaza face trauma and grief as much as the Palestinian residents
- 01 Jun 2021
A smashed goldfish bowl, panicked birds in a cage, scores of animals needing treatment.
The loss or injury of treasured pets has added to the grief and trauma of Gaza residents after last month's deadly situation.
Neriman, a nine-year-old Palestinian girl, clutched a glass jar holding her goldfish Hoor, delighted it had survived after her other one, Hooriya, died in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City.
In the latest war, Israeli strikes on Gaza killed 254 Palestinians, including 66 children, as well as some fighters, authorities there say.
Fire by Palestinian militants claimed 12 lives in Israel, including one child, a teenager and an Israeli soldier.
Pets also suffered, as well as the children who owned them.
Nearby, vet Mutasem Qaddoura examined two cats, one after the other.
One needed an operation for a broken leg, the other was dehydrated and malnourished.
Dozens of pets owners have flocked to his clinic since Gaza's May 21 ceasefire though supplies to treat them are scarce.
Pets left behind
Neriman and her family had been forced to flee their home on May 13, after an Israeli officer warned neighbours of an imminent strike on a nearby bank.
In the panic she left behind her fish, as well as two parakeets, Alloosh and Malloosh, given to her by her father for her sixth birthday.
But soon after, she started worrying. When they returned, she found a special outfit she had laid out on her bed for the Eid holidays covered in rubble, the bed collapsed and the windows blown in.
Hooriya had died, but they saved Hoor, a scene shown in a video which has since gone viral on social media.
Desperate dogs
South of Gaza city, 30-year-old Adel al-Wadia said he had tried to feed some of the dogs at the coastal strip's main dog shelter during the bombing.
The shelter's founder, Saeed el-Aer, said he returned after the ceasefire to find many of his canine wards scared and famished.
Dozens had panicked and escaped during the 11-day war, and several were wounded, he said.
Other animals were even less lucky.
Aer pointed to an area beyond the shelter's fence.