One such example, about Hana Awad, a blind Arab lady from Nazareth who had her sight restored by path-breaking Israeli doctors, was made public in mid-December.

The report on this medical miracle is here: “Blind Woman Regains Eyesight at Israeli Hospital With Artificial Cornea Carved From Her Shin Bone,” by Sharon Wrobel, Algemeiner, December 15, 2021:

A blind woman has regained her eyesight after 20 years following a first-of-its-kind surgery at an Israeli hospital.

The rare procedure carried out at Israel’s Beilinson hospital restored the sight of 60-year-old Hanan Awad from Nazareth, who suffered from a severe corneal disease which led to her blindness. During the complex surgery, which was performed for the first time at an Israeli hospital, a piece of bone from Awad’s leg and an artificial cornea were implanted in her eye.

 “The surgery is performed in the most severe cases of corneal disease in which it is not possible to perform a cornea transplant from donor tissue, and in fact it is the only option for returning eyesight to blind patients whose condition until now was considered incurable,” said Dr. Eitan Livni, head of the cornea unit at Beilinson, also known as the Rabin Medical Center.

Diseases of the cornea, the eye’s outermost lens are the second leading cause of blindness in most developing countries. Every year about two million new cases of corneal blindness are recorded, according to estimates by the World Health Organization.

Awad’s two-phase procedure involved surgeries lasting seven hours each, the hospital explained last week. During the first, a piece of bone from Awad’s shin was taken and then carved and sculpted into the shape of a thin disc. In its center, a 3-millimeter hole was drilled, into which an artificial cornea made of plastic material was inserted. As a result, the doctors created a hybrid implant of organic bone and an artificial implant, to be implanted in the affected eye.

For a period of three months, the implant was placed under Awad’s skin so that soft tissue and blood vessels would nourish the bone and it would be kept alive. During this period, fresh tissue grows that attaches to the bone. In the second phase of the procedure, the surgeons removed the bone prosthesis with the blood vessels formed around it, and in a complex operation, implanted the bone disc with the artificial cornea in the center of Awad’s eye.

The recipient of the “first successful artificial cornea transplant” in Israel was Jamal Furani, an Arab resident of Haifa. Like Hana Awad, he owes his sight both to the brilliant breakthroughs of Israeli scientists, who created these artificial corneas, and to the equally wonder-working skill of Israeli surgeons who implanted them. Don’t expect the Palestinian Authority, however, to show any gratitude for Israeli doctors treating Israeli and Palestinian Arabs. Nor will there be any coverage in the Arab media about these dazzling displays of Israeli medical prowess enrolled in restoring sight to blind Arab patients.