Veterinarian Mahmoud al-Sultan said each baby weighed about 700 grams. He said he felt lucky that the delivery was successful despite the deafening sound of constant explosions during three days of fighting. The babies’ mother had suffered miscarriages in the past, al-Sultan said. The loud noise “stresses the wild animals, especially the lions, whose roars increase and continue to move in a circular fashion inside the cage,” he said. The cubs were born on Friday, several hours apart, and five days after an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire halted fighting between Israel and Islamic Jihad militants. Forty-nine Palestinians, including 17 children, were killed and several hundred wounded in the fighting. The shocks of war are not the only threat to animals. Gaza is poor, with double-digit unemployment, largely as a result of the Egyptian-Israeli border blockade imposed after Hamas militants took control of the territory 15 years ago. In the past, some animals in small private zoos in Gaza have starved to death or been killed in the long conflict, which has included four Israel-Hamas wars and countless smaller skirmishes. International animal protection organizations have carried out several evacuations to transport weak lions and tigers to sanctuaries in Jordan and Africa. The costly effort to rescue animals, while some 2.3 million Gazans remain largely trapped in a small area, has also drawn criticism. On Saturday, visitors flocked to the small Nama Zoo on the outskirts of Gaza City, with children allowed to pet the newborns. Nama is run by a private charity, which puts it in a slightly better position than the small number of private zoos that often struggle to provide the animals. Schools organize day trips to the zoo, and the entrance fee is less than $1, helping to defray costs. The zoo is also home to a variety of birds, along with monkeys, deer, foxes, wolves and hyenas.
