A lion killed a child at a zoo in the Gaza Strip on Monday. The predator killed the six-year-old boy after he got too close to the cage, police on the Mediterranean coast said. The incident reportedly took place at the Asdaa amusement park near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. Police temporarily closed the zoo after the boy’s death to investigate the circumstances.
It was the first known kill of a predator in the Gaza Strip. International animal rights activists have repeatedly denounced the fact that wild animals are being kept in private zoos in Palestinian territory in disastrous conditions.
The organization “Four Paws” has previously described a neglected zoo in Khan Yunis as the “worst zoo” in the world. Dozens of animals died miserably there because they weren’t given enough food. Then, in 2019, the organization brought in 47 animals from the Gaza Strip zoo, including five lions.
The ongoing conflict between the Islamist Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, and Israel is making life difficult in the Palestinian territory. In 2007, Israel enforced a coastal blockade co-sponsored by Egypt.