GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Three day-old lion cubs were on display Saturday in a cardboard box at a Gaza City zoo, a rare joyous sight for children and adults alike, just days after Israeli aircraft pounded the territory and Gaza militants fired hundreds of rockets at Israel.
Veterinarian Mahmoud al-Sultan said he felt lucky that the birth was successful despite the deafening sound of constant explosions during three days of fighting. The cubs’ mother had suffered miscarriages in the past, al-Sultan said.
Loud noise “causes stress to the wild animals, especially the lions, whose roars get higher, and they keep moving in a circular way inside the cage,” he said.
The cubs were born Friday, several hours apart, and five days after an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire halted the fighting between Israel and Islamic Jihad militants.
