DayofPal-Gazan displaced mother Raghda Al-Sheikh has issued an urgent international appeal for reunification with her three children, who were removed from parental custody and placed in French state care following their evacuation from the enclave.
The separation too place at the onset of the genocide when Al-Sheikh’s children, Rabhi (11), Nour (10), and Hussam al-Din (8), were evacuated to France with the assistance of the French Foreign Ministry.
While Al-Sheikh remained trapped in the Gaza Strip due to the blockade and intensifying military attacks, the children reached France in December 2023, accompanied by their father and grandfather.
However, the family’s hope for safety soon transitioned into a legal ordeal. On July 15, 2024, French child protection services intervened, forcibly removing the siblings from their father’s care based on allegations of abuse.
The family has vehemently denied these claims, asserting a total lack of corroborating medical or educational evidence to justify the state’s intervention.
The legal battle reached a critical juncture during a court hearing on March 30, 2026.
Reports indicate that the children explicitly expressed their desire to be reunited with their parents. Despite this, Al-Sheikh reports that her communication with them has been systematically restricted for nearly a year, reduced to sporadic written correspondence that she fears is eroding their linguistic and cultural identity.
“I am paralyzed by the fear that they will be lost to me forever,” Al-Sheikh stated from a makeshift shelter in Gaza City, where she remains internally displaced after the destruction of her home.
“I fear they will be placed with a family that does not share our faith or heritage, causing them to eventually lose touch with their roots and traditions.”
The mother’s plight unfolds against a backdrop of unprecedented humanitarian crisis. According to recent UN data, over 1.9 million Palestinians remain internally displaced, with approximately 60 percent of the population having lost their homes.
Despite a ceasefire that took effect on October 10, the humanitarian situation remains dire, characterized by restricted aid and ongoing volatility.
Legal advocates and social services have called for the restoration of consistent family contact, yet the children remain in a care facility with limited parental access.
Al-Sheikh continues to call upon the French government and international human rights organizations to facilitate either her safe passage to France or the immediate return of her children, describing her husband as a devoted caregiver and the allegations against him as a profound injustice.
As the six-month mark of the ceasefire passes, the case of the Al-Sheikh family serves as a poignant reminder of the enduring “scholasticide” and familial fragmentation resulting from the war, where the struggle for survival in the Gaza Strip is met with a struggle for identity and reunification abroad.
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