'I want to fulfil my dead brother's dream' - rebuilding life in Gaza's ruins

 'I want to fulfil my dead brother's dream' - rebuilding life in Gaza's ruins

03:31

Contains upsetting scenes.

Media caption,

Since the war started the job had become his life. Many of the people being bombed were his neighbours, people he'd grown up with.

Hatem Al-Atar, 25, wasn't married. His bravery was not reckless, or born of ignorance. He knew he could die any second.

"All days of war since 7 October until now were difficult. Every second in this war was hard. You could lose your life, of a beloved one any second," Hatem says.

He is sitting in the civil defence office in Deir al-Balah with his comrades. They chat and check their phones. Each one is a survivor.

Ninety-four of their comrades were killed. More than 300 were wounded - nearly half the civil defence organisation in Gaza.

For Hatem, death was as close as the explosion that blew him off his feet in a house near Nasser hospital.

"There were people injured and killed around the house," he remembers.

"I entered to check if there is anyone there, alive or dead. Once I did, a reconnaissance missile hit the house."

The footage taken by a colleague shows him striding into the building. A fire is burning to the left of frame.

Then there is a loud blast, clouds of smoke, a man staggering out, but it's not Hatem.

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