Gaza:
At Rafah Zoo, dozens of destitute Gazans camp among cages where starving monkeys, parrots and lions scream for food, 12 weeks after Israel's offensive.
Nearly all of Gaza's 2.3 million residents have been driven from their homes by a bombardment that has left much of the territory in ruins. Many are now cramming into the southern city of Rafah, their shelters filling street corners and empty lots.
At the private zoo, run by the Gomaa family, a row of plastic tents stood near the animal cages and laundry hung on lines between palm trees. Nearby, a worker tried to hand-feed a weak monkey tomato slices.
Many of the people sheltering at the zoo are members of the extended Gomaa family who lived in different parts of the enclave before the conflict destroyed their homes.
“There are many families who have been completely wiped out. Now our entire family is staying in this zoo,” said Adel Gomaa, who fled Gaza City. “Life among the animals is more merciful than what we get from the war planes in the sky.”
Four monkeys have already died and a fifth is now so weak that it cannot even feed itself when food is available, zoo owner Ahmed Gomaa said.
He also fears for his two lion cubs. “We feed them dry bread soaked in water just to keep them alive. The situation is actually tragic.”
The cubs' mother has lost half her weight since the conflict began, going from a daily meal of chicken to a weekly portion of bread, he added.
A UN-backed report warned last week that Gaza was at risk of famine, with the entire population facing crisis levels of hunger. Israel stopped all imports of food, medicine, electricity and fuel into Gaza at the start of the war.
While it is now possible for aid to enter the enclave, security checkpoints, delivery bottlenecks and the difficulty of moving through the rubble of a war zone have hampered supplies. Many Palestinians there say they do not eat every day.
At the zoo, the lioness and her cubs lay listlessly in their cage while children played nearby.
Animals were dying and getting sick every day, said Sofian Abdeen, a veterinarian who has worked at the zoo. “Cases of starvation, weakness, anemia. These problems are widespread. There is no food.”
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