The children of Gaza have little to eat, have had to flee their homes and have survived nearly six months of terrifying Israeli bombardment.

But for a few precious minutes, children in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the centre of Gaza laughed and yelped with joy.

Clowns and acrobats performed for them in the courtyard of a school where their displaced families had been sheltering during the bombing.

The unrelenting war has taken a terrible toll on Gaza’s children. Most of the more than 32,490 people killed in the besieged territory since October 7 have been women and children.

But for once they could forget all that horror as performers in rabbit costumes led them in a conga, pushing one injured boy in a wheelchair.

Then it was the turn of clown Omar al Saidi to tickle their funny bones with zany antics at the expense of another jester.

Wassim Lobed, whose support group organized the show and who acted as compere, said: “Traumas are beginning to appear in children so we are trying to provide psychological relief.”

“We hope to God that this war will end for the sake of our children in Gaza,” he added.