Five lions, one fox, one wolf and menagerie of cats, dogs and assorted birds were amongst the animals rescued on Sunday from a decrepit Gaza zoo, in a major operation by an international NGO.

The 43 residents of Rafah Zoo were sent via Israel to a sanctuary in Jordan, where they will experience something that eludes so many on the strip: peace, plenty and space to roam.

Members of the Four Paws animal rescue group arrived on Thursday and spent several days wrangling the paperwork required to evacuate animals from an occupied territory into a second country for onward passage to a third. The animals were crated on Sunday morning and the procession trundled out of Gaza a little after midday.

“It’s going to be a long recovery process. It’s Gaza, so there’s a lack of food, lack of medical care. These animals weren’t in the greatest condition but they will all make it,” Four Paws’ Martin Bauer told the Telegraph.