Difficulty: Summiteer (Level 3)
With dozens of animals, zookeeper Fathi Ahmed Gomaa has fled from Israel’s attack on Rafah, a city in Gaza. In a cowshed in another city, Khan Yunis, Gomaa has made a temporary home for his animals.
Before the attack, Rafah had been spared from a ground invasion, and more than half of the Gaza Strip’s population was sheltering there.
“I am appealing to the Israeli authorities: these animals have no connection to terrorism,” Gomaa said, seeking Israel’s help in working with aid agencies to rescue the lions left behind in Rafah.
He fears they won’t survive long on their own: “Of course, within a week or 10 days, if we don’t get them out, they will die because they’ll be left with no food or water.”
Gomaa said he had already lost many animals to the war: lion cubs, monkeys, squirrels and birds.
