Israeli & Palestinian Teens Saved By Organ Donations From Each Other’s Families

The mother of a 19-year-old Israeli Arab from Nahariya, Israel donated one of her kidneys to a 16-year-old boy from Jenin, Palestine. At the same time, the brother of the Palestinian gave a kidney to the 19-year-old Israeli for a “cross-border transplant”, which took place at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel.

“A cross-border transplant”

According to The Jerusalem Post, while the donors were not immunologically compatible to their own relatives who needed the organs, their tissues were each suitable for members of the other family.

The operation was difficult and delicate, logistically speaking, and both were performed more or less at the same time. Dozens of doctors, nurses, and other personnel from vascular surgery, nephrology, and other units were involved in the procedures.

In the end, all these procedures were successful and the patients – the Israeli and the Palestinian – are now recuperating.

Dr Ran Steinberg, head of pediatric surgery at Rambam’s Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital, said, “Thanks to partnership among all factors, we succeeded in saving lives, and there is no greater satisfaction.”

This story comes at a time of continuing hostility between Israelis and Palestinians, and offers a ray of hope and compassion is an otherwise gloomy scene of poverty and abject hatred.

The Logical Indian community congratulates the team of doctors at Rambam Medical Center on the successful operations. Hopefully, such cross-border overtures will be emulated on a larger scale by more and more Israelis and Palestinians and the region will find peace and stability in the near future.