Cowering in the toilets as the missiles fell, Saher and Sabrina narrowly escaped becoming casualties of the 23-day conflict.

Nearly all their fellow inhabitants had died. This week the couple were rescued, starving, afraid — and ready to become parents. “It is a miracle they survived. Any day she will give birth and she is in a very delicate state,” said Abu Jameel Qassim, 42.

But although it was possible to discern yesterday that Sabrina was an expectant mother, she was less than forthcoming about the details of her ordeal. That was because Sabrina and her partner are the pride of Gaza Zoo: lions.

The two are in a cage while their larger pen is repaired after a missile tore a hole through its main fence. The cats had slipped through and ate some of the other escaped animals before seeking shelter in the administration building.

The moment he heard that a ceasefire had gone into effect Mr Qassim rushed to check on the animals. Nearly all of his charges had died, and his joy at learning that the lions had survived was tempered when he learnt that they were hungry and agitated.

Three foxes and two wolves also survived, as did two African monkeys which had escaped and were found, fed and sheltered by neighbours. Many of the other animals died of starvation, although a few — such as a prized Saudi camel and a fleet of ostriches — were killed by direct missile strikes. At least one animal, a Japanese monkey, was shot, said Mr Qassim.

Bits of fur and feather lined the sandy lanes of the zoo, a testament to the carnage inside. Most animals lay where they died, as a neighbourhood dog passed from cage to cage to hold vigil.

“The Israelis can come and they can shoot us and send their missiles to kill us and they make us bleed. But some of us will survive, and we will be ready for them with our claws,” Mr Qassim said.

But the lions have an even more remarkable history. Like the other animals they probably got to the zoo by being smuggled through one of Gaza’s tunnels from Egypt. In 2007, in the chaos as Hamas fought its rival faction Fatah, Sabrina was held captive for two years by a clan who charged locals $1.20 to be photographed with her.

Malnourished, declawed and missing some of her teeth, Sabrina was rescued by Hamas fighters in July 2007 who claimed her return to the zoo as part of their victory.

Sabrina suffered further abuse a few months later when a popular children’s TV show sent an actor dressed as a bee to torment animals at the zoo.

The actor swung several cats around by their tails and pestered the lions in what al-Aqsa TV said was a show to highlight abuse against animals.

“These animals have not had a happy life,” said Qassim. “Neither have the Gazans.”

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