Light from Darkness: Four Israelis Receive Corneal Transplant from Victims of Huwara Terror Shooting

March 9, 2023

by: Kate Norman

Thursday, 9 March 2023 | The tragic loss of two young Israeli brothers in a terror shooting last month is shining light into the darkness of four Israeli patients who received corneal transplants from them.

Twenty-one-year-old Hallel Yaniv and 19-year-old Yagel Haniv were murdered in a terror shooting near Huwara on February 26. The two brothers, residents of the Har Bracha community near Nablus, were shot and killed in their vehicle while caught in a traffic jam on Highway 6.

Both of the brothers had signed organ donor cards, and their parents also consented to the transplants, which were performed at Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikvah, just outside of Tel Aviv.

One of the patients who received a transplant, 66-year-old Ron Carmeli, told the Jerusalem Post: “When this terrible incident happened, I looked at the TV and saw their beautiful, big blue eyes. I did not imagine even in my wildest dreams that I would get to see again thanks to them. I appreciate them and this noble act so much.”

The four patients had been waiting for transplants for over a year, the director of the hospital’s eye department told the Jerusalem Post. The medical operation “brings together bereavement and loss on the one hand and the saving of sight and excitement of the transplanted on the other,” Prof. Irit Bachar told the Jerusalem Post.

“This is one of the moments that instills in all of us a feeling of unity, kindness and unconditional giving,” Bachar added.

The brothers’ parents, Esti and Shalom Yaniv, told the Jerusalem Post that they were “excited” about the news of the successful transplant. “We wish for the donors to see the world’s goodness and joy, as our sweet Hallel and Yagel saw it. Their good and beautiful eyes will continue to illuminate our world through these dear messengers, and we are filled with satisfaction that even after their death they were able to do good to others.”

The news of the transplants came just a day after the Israeli military announced that it had killed the terrorist responsible for murdering the brothers, 48-year-old Hamas operative Abdel Fattah Kharousha, in a counterterror raid in Jenin. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) added that in its operation, conducted jointly with the Shin Bet (Israel’s internal security organization), they arrested Kharousha’s two sons, who were also suspected of helping to plan and execute the terror attack.

Even though their act of terrorism snuffed out the lives of two young Israelis, these transplants show that light can still come out of the darkness of tragedy.

Posted on March 9, 2023

Source: (Bridges for Peace, March 9, 2023)

Photo Credit: Megor1/commons.wikimedia.org

Photo License: wikimedia