An online video showed him burning alive after Israeli airstrike. His brother recounts his final moments

WARNING: The story contains details of a man burning to death.

Muhammad Ahmad Al-Daluwas sleeping in a tent by himself outside of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip early Monday when he heard the sound of anairstrikeright next to him.

He stepped out of his tent and was immediately surrounded by thick, billowing smoke.

In a matter of minutes, the 17-year-old's older brother and mother were both killed, and his three siblings and father were all rushed to different hospitals in serious condition.

"I went out to see what happened, and I found my brother burning in the fire and my father was trying to get my younger siblings out," Al-Dalutold CBC News Tuesday.

"My brother had both his hands up to the sky."

His brother, 20-year-old Shaaban Al-Dalu, burned alive in the fire. Video of his death widely circulated social media platforms on Monday, showing Shaaban with his hands up under falling debris and cables, as tents were set ablaze by the missile strikes.CBC News has seen the footage and has chosen not to show it due to its graphic nature.

Shaabanand his mother Alaa Al-Daluwere among the four Palestinianskilledin the Israeli airstrike thatstrucka makeshift tent camphousing forcibly displaced peopleonAl-Aqsa Hospital grounds at around 1:30 a.m. Dozens more were injured in the attack.

"I saw my brother on fire, in front of my eyes, and my father was on fire, and all of my siblings were on fire right in front of me," Muhammad AhmadAl-Dalu said.

"People were holding me, refusing to release me to help my father. I was screaming and shoutingfor nothing. Everything inside me, I got out."

His brother screamed for help as he was consumed by the flames, video showed.

"Put yourself in my shoes:You see your brother getting burned alive and people are holding you back, what do you do?"

IDF says the fire was likely due to 'secondary explosions'

In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it conducted a "precise strike" on a Hamascommand and control centre in the area of a parking lot adjacent to the hospital overnight Sunday, it said, though it did not provide evidence of the centre's existence.

"Shortly after the strike, a fire ignited in the hospital's parking lot, most likely due to secondary explosions."

It said the incident is under review.

Israel launched its groundoffensive against Hamas after Oct. 7, 2023, when the militant group led an attack onIsrael, killingaround 1,200 and taking about250 hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

The ensuing war has killed more than 42,000 Palestinianssince then, by Palestinian counts.

Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced, and much of the enclave has been laid to waste as the ongoing war has led to severe shortages of food, clean waterand medicine.

Children screamed as fire consumed displaced Palestinians: witness

Shaaban had miraculously survived a previousIsraeli strike, Al-Dalu said, on Oct. 6 at Al-Aqsa Mosque. He had fallen asleep at the mosque while reciting the Quran, and escaped the attack with just minor injuriesunaware that just over a week later, he would be killed in a different one.

When the fire erupted following the Monday strike,Al-Dalusaid his father was the only one awake out of the family, and quickly rescued his younger brother before trying to pull out the rest of the family.

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Footage captured by CBC's freelance videographerMohamed El Saife shows rescuers scrambling to save people in the fire, struggling to keep it contained.

"We tried to enter and rescue them, but the fire had a hold on them," said Al-Dalu's uncle,Mahmoud Al-Dalu.

Mahmoud Wadi says he watched Shaaban, his friend, die in the fire.

"We couldn't do anything for him," Wadi told CBC News on Monday."He was charred right in front of us, and we couldn't do anything for him."

He said he witnessed neighbours on fireas children screamed.

"People get treated at hospitals here, we get burned at hospitals."

Most of the tents, vehiclesand suppliesin the area, including food, were destroyed inthe fire.

Attack comes as northern Gaza sees Israeli troops close in

Monday's attack comes as UNSecretary General AntnioGuterres condemned the level of civilian casualties innorthernGaza. The UN estimates roughly 400,000 civilians remain trapped following evacuation orders, which the IDF repeatedly issuedas its troops closed in on the region. Palestinians and UNagencies are increasingly concerned that the Israeli militarywants to clear residents from the north of the crowded enclave.

The northern part of Gaza, home to well over half the territory's population, was heavily bombed in the first phase of Israel's assault on the territory.

That same day,the White HouseNational Security Council's spokesperson said Israel has a responsibility to do more to ensure Palestinian civilians were not harmed by its attacks against Hamas in relation to the tent attacks.

"The images and video of what appear to be displaced civilians burning alive following an Israeli airstrike are deeply disturbing and we have made our concerns clear to the Israeli government,"the spokesperson said Monday.

"Israel has a responsibility to do more to avoid civilian casualties and what happened here is horrifying, even if Hamas was operating near the hospital in an attempt to use civilians as human shields."

Shaaban was the 'rose of the family'

Al-Dalu's remaining siblings and his father are now scattered, recovering in different hospitals across Gaza. In an interview Tuesday, he said he is praying for their recovery.

His older brother Shaabanwas the "rose of the family," he said, a software engineering student who had the Quran memorized.

In their last conversation, just a few hours before the strike, Shaaban told him he was going to sleep after praying Isha, one of the five mandatorydaily Islamic prayers. Shaaban told him to pray, as well, before he went to sleep.

"That is the last time I saw my brother."