Samira al-Abdallah, a 17-year-old Ukrainian girl from Kharkiv, returned home over the weekend after being held for 12 years by her Palestinian father in the Gaza Strip. Samira, who was repatriated following a complex diplomatic effort, wept with joy as she reunited with her mother, Elena Almina, for the first time in over a decade.
The ordeal began in the summer of 2013, when Samira’s father, a Palestinian who had been living with his family in Kharkiv, deceived his ex-wife by claiming he was taking their three children — Jamal, Ahmad and young Samira — to Gaza for a short visit to see his ailing parents. Once there, he refused to return, effectively abducting the children and cutting off their mother.
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Elena Almina and her daughter Samira al-Abdallah reunited in Ukraine
(Photo: Courtesy)
Elena pursued legal action, and international court rulings ordered the children’s return, but enforcement was impossible in Gaza. For years, she maintained limited contact, sending small gifts for their birthdays. “They don’t celebrate birthdays there, so it was my way of reminding them of me,” she said.
After the October 7 massacre and the ensuing war in Gaza, conditions worsened. In early 2024, amid evacuations of foreign nationals, the father agreed to release the two older boys, who were over 15 at the time. They were evacuated to Kharkiv in March 2024. But he refused to release Samira, instead keeping her as a “bargaining chip” to secure his own evacuation along with his new wife and children, exploiting her Ukrainian citizenship.
For the past year and a half, Samira lived in a tent camp in Gaza, enduring severe shortages of food, water and electricity, and constant airstrikes. Her brothers sent her money to buy canned food. “She would buy a single can of corn and eat from it all day,” Elena said. The father reportedly tried to marry her off to several local men, demanding a “dowry” in the form of humanitarian aid — canned food and bags of rice.
Her final evacuation took place on Sept. 29, 2025, in an operation coordinated by the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel, Ukraine’s intelligence service and Israel’s Foreign Ministry. Ukrainian Ambassador Yevhen Korniychuk personally oversaw the rescue of 57 people. “Because relations between Israel and Egypt are tense, the Israelis proposed transferring the group through Israel and into Jordan,” he said.
Samira crossed into Israel via the Kerem Shalom crossing. Her father was immediately detained by the Shin Bet for questioning. On Friday, Samira arrived in Ukraine and was reunited with her family at a train station in the country’s south. “We walked hand in hand — neither of us wanted to let go,” Elena said.
Now back home, Samira is adjusting to life in Ukraine with the help of her brothers, who are helping her refresh her Ukrainian, adapt to a secular lifestyle and plan for her future studies. Though she is safe, the emotional scars from her years in captivity remain.