SAFA — Seconds separated two Israeli strikes in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, turning Palestinian teenager Muhammad al-Zeinati’s attempt to save another person into his final act.

Al-Zeinati rushed toward Sharif Labad, a member of Gaza’s Civil Defense, after seeing him wounded in an Israeli strike. He was not a paramedic or Civil Defense worker, but ran toward Labad in an attempt to reach him and provide help.

Moments later, another Israeli strike hit the area, killing al-Zeinati as he tried to reach the wounded rescuer. Labad was also killed in the attack.

Footage circulated online showed the moments surrounding the strikes and al-Zeinati’s attempt to reach Labad, prompting widespread anger and grief over the teenager’s killing.

At Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, al-Zeinati’s father stood beside his son’s shrouded body in shock.

“May God have mercy on you, my beloved, my hero,” he said. “I didn’t even get the chance to enjoy his youth. God is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs.”

Al-Zeinati’s friend Muhammad al-Bal’awi recalled him as someone known for immediately helping others.

“When he heard the first explosion, he didn’t think about fear,” al-Bal’awi said, recalling how his friend rushed toward the scene in an attempt to save a life.

“We were playing together just minutes before, and suddenly he was in a shroud, covered in blood,” he added.

The killing has drawn renewed attention to Israeli strikes that hit people attempting to rescue those wounded in earlier attacks in Gaza.

Around 100 Gaza Civil Defense personnel have been killed during Israel’s war on the enclave, according to Palestinian figures, alongside hundreds of members of medical and ambulance crews.

For al-Zeinati’s family and friends, however, the story is painfully simple: a young Palestinian saw another person wounded and ran towards him rather than away. He was killed while trying to save a life.