GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The animal sector also fell victim to the recent Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, which broke out May 10 and ended with an Egyptian- and UN-brokered cease-fire agreement May 21. 

Many animals were killed or injured, whether by direct targeting or as a result of missile shrapnel; others died due to their owners’ inability to feed them or due to a shortage of animal food, as Israel closed the crossings during the war. It allowed fodder to enter the Gaza Strip after 17 days of closure.

Umm Fares, whose four-year-old son owns a cat, told Al-Monitor, “At the start of the war, I noticed that the cat was hiding under the couch every time there was a nearby bombing. The cat refused to go out until it felt safe and calm was restored in the area.”

She said, “Because of the intensity of the nearby shelling, we decided to go down to the ground floor, as we thought that the higher places were more dangerous and exposed to Israeli shelling. But the cat refused to come down with us. Each time we carried it to the ground floor, it would escape and return again and hide under the couch.”