Coverage of the Israel-Hamas war often focuses on humans affected by the conflict. Still, many of the IDF’s heroic efforts may go unnoticed, including the rescue of abandoned animals from Gaza.
Since the ground war in Gaza began,
the IDF has rescued cats, dogs, parrots, owls, and even a neglected lion from
the Gaza zoo.
Lieutenant Lihi Agiv, a communications
officer in the 12th Division described rescuing a puppy while serving on the
front lines.
Lt. Agiv told Ynet: “I
was touring with the division commander when I noticed a skinny, scared little
puppy that ran to us. She was shaking. I have a dog at home so I’m very
sensitive to animals. I picked her up and took her with me.”
After Lieutenant Lihi fed the puppy
and gave her water, she knew that Beit Hanoun was no place for such a
vulnerable creature.
The puppy was sent to her new owner,
and all of the soldiers gave her a warm welcome.
“As soon as I took her, all the
soldiers wanted to pet her. People were so crazy about her that they gave her
their food. The 12th Division is filled with incredible decency and humanity
that you don’t see everywhere,” said Lt. Lihi.
Towards the end of one of the Shaked
Battalion’s missions in Gaza, Platoon Commander Lieutenant Eran Admoni found a
white fluffy cat that had been abandoned.
He said, “They gave her a kind of
shelter. When the mission was over, they took her back to Israel. The fighters
searched for people to adopt her and finally found an adoptive family.”
The cat wasn’t the only animal the
Shaked Battalion rescued in Gaza; Major Tal Attias and Lieutenant Yoav Sander
shared the privilege of walking with a large, colorful parrot on their
shoulders.
The troops rescued the parrot which
was trapped under the rubble in Gaza’s Palestine Square, a place that holds
special significance for the current war because it was the first location in
Gaza where the hostages were brought.
When the Israeli navy was sailing off
the coast of Gaza, an injured owl landed on the deck. The sailors fed the owl
and made a small cage for him.
Lieutenant Jonathan, an Israeli Navy
officer, reports that when they reached Haifa, they placed the owl in a
wildlife hospital and since then, the owl has made a full recovery and was
released back into the wild.
Perhaps the most astounding and
heart-rending rescue is still in process and involves saving a malnourished
lion from a Gaza zoo.
The Nature and Parks Authority is in
communication with the IDF to determine how and when to rescue the lion from
Gaza safely.
No comments:
Post a Comment