Organ donors bring hope after Jewish-Arab strife

The deaths of a Jewish man and an Arab teenager in some of the worst civil strife in Israel's history gave life to hopes of healing the divisions.

After both families decided to donate the victims' organs - and were happy for them to go to Arab or Jew.

Yigal Yehoshua, a Jewish man, was killed by Arab rioters in the city of Lod, near Tel Aviv.

His kidney went to a Palestinian woman from Jerusalem, an outcome his family embraced. This is his brother, Ephraim:

"I was really very happy that the lady from Beit Safafa got the kidney and she also called us and thanked us. With God's help, we will meet her and her family and rejoice together that she's in better health now."

Randa Oweis was the recipient. She'd been waiting years for a new kidney.

"I was happy, but also shocked. When his wife talked to me via video call, I was more shocked, and scared, but when she cried and wished me good health, and spoke to me nicely, as did the brother, I grew more comfortable."

Oweis hopes there'll be peace, and more awareness of the human cost of such fighting, especially for children.

That's also the hope of the Kiwan family, who lost 17-year-old Muhammad.

He died in the northern Arab town of Umm al-Fahm, during clashes with Israeli riot police.

The Kiwans agreed to donate his organs to help anyone who needed them, whether Arab or Jewish.

This was Mohammed's father, Mahmoud:

"Thank God, there were six human beings who were in danger, and they survived because of those organs. I am proud of that, thank God. We wish them full recovery, whatever and whoever they are; of course we kind of know who they are."

The violence between Israel's Jews and Arab minority erupted as the country battled militants in Gaza this month. A truce took hold last Friday.