4 patients receive corneal transplants from brothers killed in terror attack

Surgeries carried out with consent of parents of Hallel, 21, and Yagel Yaniv, 19, killed in Huwara last week; announcement comes day after suspect behind shooting killed in raid

Brothers Hallel (left) and Yagel Yaniv, who were killed in a terror attack in the West Bank town of Huwara on February 26, 2023. (Courtesy)
Brothers Hallel (left) and Yagel Yaniv, who were killed in a terror attack in the West Bank town of Huwara on February 26, 2023. (Courtesy)

Four patients have received the transplanted corneas of two brothers killed in a terror attack last week, the Belinson Hospital announced Wednesday.

Hallel Yaniv, 21, and Yagel Yaniv, 19, from the Har Bracha settlement in the northern West Bank, were killed when their car was ambushed as they drove through the nearby Palestinian town of Huwara on February 26.

Their parents agreed that the corneas of their sons, who carried donation cards, would be transplanted, the hospital said.

No immediete details were released on the recipients.

The announcement of the corneal transplants was made a day after Israeli troops entered Jenin as they hunted the suspected gunman who killed the brothers. The incursion set off a gunbattle that left six Palestinians dead, including Hamas member Abdel Fattah Hussein Kharousha, 49, the wanted terrorist.

Following the killing of the brothers, a group of radical settlers rampaged through Huwara, burning homes and vehicles. A Palestinian man was killed in unclear circumstances and multiple people were injured in violence that shocked many in Israel and abroad, with some terming the incident a “pogrom.”

The other five Palestinians killed on Tuesday were members of terror groups, including another Hamas member, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad member, and three claimed to be members of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a terror group loosely affiliated with the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah party. Palestinian health officials said another 12 people were injured in the Jenin raid, three seriously.

Mourners attend the funeral of brothers Hallel, 21, and Yagel Yaniv, 19, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, February 27, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Three officers of the police Yamam counterterrorism unit were injured, one moderately and two lightly.

Troops also raided Nablus, arresting the two sons of the alleged Huwara killer, Khaled and Muhammed Kharousha, the IDF said. According to the Shin Bet, the pair were suspected of planning and helping carry out the attack.

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.

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