Organs of man who died of wounds from Hezbollah drone attack donated to six people
Baby girl among recipients; family of Mikhael Sammarah of Kfar Yasif in Western Galilee express disappointment that nobody from Israeli government came to pay their respects
Reporter at The Times of Israel
KFAR YASIF — The organs from a man critically wounded in Tuesday’s Hezbollah drone strike were donated to six people, including a 7-month-old girl, over the weekend. Mikhael Sammarah, 27, succumbed to his wounds on Friday after being struck after an Iron Dome interceptor missile that malfunctioned during a barrage of Hezbollah drones earlier last week.
“My son saved six people,” said Nasrat Sammarah, Mikhael’s father, as he prepared to greet people who were streaming into the community center of Kfar Yasif, in Western Galilee to support the family on Sunday. “And how many people from the government came to offer their condolences? Zero.”
Sammarah, who was studying chemical engineering in the Czech Republic, was in Israel to visit his family. He was driving his car when he was killed on the Route 4 highway about six miles from where he lives.
“Representatives came from the Slovakian and Czech Republic [governments],” Sammarah said. “But no one from our own government.”
Mikhael Sammarah grew up in Kfar Yasif in the Western Galilee. His mother, Janka, born in Slovakia, is a sports teacher at the local elementary school. She met her husband when they both studied at the university there and moved back to Israel with him 30 years ago. They have two surviving sons, George and Joni.
At the community center, Janka stood near her son’s photograph, staring at it, unable to pull her eyes away.
“At first I didn’t know if I wanted him to be an organ donor,” she said. “As his mother, I could feel the cut of the knives in his skin. But I asked my priest what I should do and he said yes. People can survive because of him.”
“I have to be strong now because people are here,” Janka said. “But inside I feel like I’m going to explode.”
“From the start of his life, Mikhael loved to give,” she said, “If he saw an ant on the ground, he wouldn’t step on it. He gave happiness. Even in death, he gave life.”
Sammarah was treated at the Galilee Medical Center, where his father said, “The hospital staff was very good to him,” Nasrat said.
The National Transplant Center said his organs went to six different people.
‘An enormous heart — in life and also in death’
The mood at the community center was hushed and subdued. There was no more talk of politics. It was time to mourn.
The grieving family sat in a long row in front of the stage, which had hand-painted scenery half-hidden by the curtain in the background. There was a large poster of a Christmas tree still hanging from a wall. A man walked through the rows of people facing the mourners, pouring people bitter black coffee, as is the custom.
People filed into the room, making their way down the row where family members sat. They shook hands, hugged, quietly cried. There was a sense of disbelief.
“He went up to his namesake, Michael, in heaven,” said his aunt, Sada Lemia. “We’re from a pious family. We do everything together. I saw him all the time.”
One of Mikhael’s childhood friends, Elias Tuma, a computer programming student, said that Mikhael had “so many positive traits.” Then, referring to the organ transplants, Tuma added, “He had an enormous heart — in life and also in death.”
‘We are all from the same roots, from Adam and Eve’
Kfar Yasif has over 10,000 residents, of which 48 percent are Christians, 38% are Muslims, and the remaining 14% are Druze, Sheikh Hussam Shargiah told The Times of Israel, as he came to pay his respects to the family members, who are Christians.
“Of course, we all get along,” Shargiah said, who lives in Kfar Yasif. “We are all from the same roots, from Adam and Eve. Muslims, Christians, and Jews are all taught to love your neighbor as yourself.”
“But when there’s war, rockets don’t distinguish between people,” Shargiah said.
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza during the war raging there since Hamas’s October 7 massacre.
So far, the skirmishes have resulted in 26 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 18 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
“I’m calling on the government to end this war,” Mikhael’s father said. “We paid the highest price.”
