STORY: :: A displaced Gazan describes the challenges of caring for her cat as they head back home

:: Wadi Gaza, Gaza

:: January 27, 2025

:: Hala Sleem, Displaced Palestinian

“She lived the same life we lived. She also went through starvation. They talk about animal rights abroad, here we did not see any rights neither for humans nor animals – this cat here, we did not find anything to feed it. We fed it with what we ate, all canned (food), and it was not used to these things. We tried in every way to keep it with us, it used to wander a lot because it was afraid the whole time. We tried to bring it back and try to feed it with the canned food that were available, which it was rejecting.”

“Animals also suffered a lot. There were many people who left their animals at home when they evacuated quickly after a sudden warning, and their animals died. I mean, there were people who didn’t have the time to take them. Thank God, we were able to take it.”

In emotional moments, Sleem talked about the obstacles of caring for her cat during displacement, drawing parallels between the suffering of humans and animals.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians streamed along the main roads leading north in Gaza on Monday, jubilant to be returning home after months of living in temporary shelter but fearing what might remain of their homes amid the bombed-out ruins.

Their return, which had been delayed at the weekend, went ahead after Hamas agreed to hand over three Israeli hostages later this week and Israeli forces began to withdraw from a main corridor across the enclave under the terms of an agreement on a ceasefire in the 15-month-long war.