Palestinian children who have lost all sense of normalcy in their lives are receiving rare moments of happiness from three cats named Simsim, Brownie, and Liza in a temporary tent city in the southern Gaza Strip that is overflowing with thousands of displaced people.

The Harb family, who lived in a residential tower in the comparatively affluent suburb of al-Zahra in central Gaza, abandoned the building and much of their previous neighbourhood after Israeli airstrikes destroyed it. The cats are part of this family.

The family now makes their home beneath a canvas, sleeping on thin mats spread out on the ground, and scrounging about for food and water to survive.

The displaced children take turns petting and picking up the cats in the dirt passageways between tents made of tarpaulins and other materials, offering the pets’ owners a much-needed diversion.

The kids play with them and grin and giggle. One of the pets is referred to by a youngster as “habibi,” which means “my love” in Arabic. Someone else starts a game using a tennis ball.

“Simsim is a living thing that is like us, who is going through our suffering as well, has fears like we do,” said Sara Tamimi, 13, who belongs to the extended Harb family, as she cradled the fluffy ginger feline in her arms.

One of the few belongings the family brought with them as they fled their house was a plastic cat carrier, which she claimed the animal first refused to leave.

“A bit later, he started getting better. He started coming out of his carrier and eating, and became accustomed to it just like we did.”

Sara’s aunt, Riham Harb, claimed it was scary the night they fled home. They spent the entire night in the open, near the Israeli border, where they could hear and watch airstrikes hitting their area.

“This cat was in my backpack that I had beside me and he was shivering with fear. Even animals were not spared by them. We spent a night that is hard to forget,” she said, holding Simsim.