On the roof of an apartment block in one of Gazaās most crowded cities, two lion cubs prowl among the water tanks and dine on slaughtered chickens as children take selfies.
It is a bizarre sight even in a war-scarred Gaza Strip that has become accustomed to the unaccustomed.
The 75-day-old male and female cubs, Fathy and Filisteen (Palestine), have become playthings for bored neighbours of their owner, bakery owner Naseem Abu Jamea, though animal experts expressed concern on hearing of the situation.
āIt is my hobby, I was attached to them and I love to have them,ā Abu Jamea, 27, told Reuters. āI hope one day I can have my own zoo.ā
Abu Jamea said he got the cubs from a local zoo but declined to give further details.
No doubt the same haters who attack Israel for things like treating animals well will not utter a word about this horrid animal abuse.
As his nephews, brothers and neighboursā children played with the animals, he dismissed the risks.
āWhen you raise them as babies, a harmony will grow between both of you and (they) will not hurt you,ā he said.
Note how the new āownerā is only thinking about his own welfare, and not that of those he is abusing.
Sounds typical of the attitude of many Gazans also towards Israelis.
As does this
The lion cubsā neighbours seemed untroubled.
āI am not afraid. On the contrary, we are proud that we have lions in our area,ā said Wissam Al-Qarra.
But it wouldnāt be a Reuters report without trying to blame Israel
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, they had to contend with an Israeli-led land, sea and air blockade, which controls the movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza, a 360 sq. km coastal strip run by the Islamist militant group Hamas.
Israel says the closures are to protect it from militant attacks. Palestinians say they amount to collective punishment.
Note also no mention of Egypt, which is a giveaway this is purely anti-Israel bias at work.
As Iāve shown before,
this abuse of animals is all on them. We have even tried to
help the animalsā plight.
Meanwhile
āPalestinian law does not permit raising wild animals in peopleās homes,ā he told Reuters.
Unfortunately, with so many Gazan children being indoctrinated by Hamas and other terrorist groups, this is not true.
A palestinian baker keeps lion cubs as pets on a Gaza rooftop
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