Gaza Herald – A displaced Palestinian mother from the Gaza Strip has issued an urgent appeal to authorities in France and international organizations, calling for reunification with her three children who were separated from their family and placed in state care after being evacuated from the enclave.
Raghda Al-Sheikh said her children, Rabhi (11), Nour (10), and Hussam al-Din (8), arrived in France in December 2023 with the assistance of the French Foreign Ministry, accompanied by their father and grandfather, as conditions in Gaza rapidly deteriorated amid ongoing Israeli genocide.
What began as an effort to secure their safety soon turned into a complex legal battle. On July 15, 2024, French child protection services removed the children from their father’s custody following allegations of abuse. The family strongly denies these claims, stating that there is no medical or educational evidence to support such intervention.
The case reached a critical stage during a court hearing on March 30, 2026, where reports indicated that the children clearly expressed their desire to reunite with their parents. Despite this, Al-Sheikh says her contact with them has been severely restricted for nearly a year, limited to sporadic written communication, raising concerns about the erosion of their linguistic, cultural, and emotional ties.
Speaking from a displacement shelter in Gaza City, where she remains after losing her home, Al-Sheikh described a constant fear of permanent separation, warning that her children risk growing up disconnected from their roots and identity.
Her case unfolds against the backdrop of a deepening humanitarian crisis, with more than 1.9 million Palestinians internally displaced across Gaza, and widespread destruction continuing to affect daily life despite a ceasefire that took effect in October 2025.
Legal advocates and social organizations have called for restoring regular contact between the mother and her children, yet they remain in state care with limited parental access. Al-Sheikh continues to urge French authorities to facilitate either her safe passage to France or the immediate return of her children, describing the situation as a profound injustice and a painful extension of the broader fragmentation of Palestinian families caused by the Israeli genocide.
