Mais al-Gharam, 23, reunited this month with her seven Gaza-born siblings in Nazareth after a prolonged legal effort following a July 10, 2024 airstrike that killed their parents and a younger brother. Working with the rights group HaMoked, Mais navigated DNA tests, court orders and citizenship applications to obtain permits and Israeli passports for the children, ages 8 to 22. The reunion brought relief and sorrow as the siblings begin rebuilding their lives in Israel while mourning their losses.
Palestinian Siblings From Gaza Reunite In Nazareth After Parents Killed In Airstrike
Mais Al-Gharam hugs her 8-year-old sister Arjwan, who was granted an Israeli passport, in her home in Nazareth, Israel, Wednesday, July 8, 2026, after Arjwan's arrival from the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)(AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
NAZARETH, Israel — After years of separation, paperwork and grief, Mais al-Gharam finally reunited with her seven siblings at Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing. The Gaza-born children, now aged 8 to 22, arrived in Nazareth this month after a long legal effort to secure permits and Israeli passports following a July 2024 airstrike that killed their parents and a younger brother.
The reunion was joyful but bittersweet: the siblings embraced relatives, shared homemade meals and talked of ordinary hopes — going back to school, seeing doctors and rebuilding their lives — while mourning what they had lost.
Fady al-Gharam, left, and his sisters inspect their family's home which was damaged during the Israel-Hamas war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, June 4, 2026, while they are in the process of obtaining Israeli passports. (AP Photo)(AP Photo/undefined)
"We never stopped being a family," Mais, 23, said. "But every day I wondered whether I'd see them again."
How They Came Together
The family's story began in 2002, when Murad al-Gharam, a Gaza native working temporarily in Israel, married Amal Karim, a Palestinian citizen of Israel from Nazareth. Their eldest child, Mais, was born in Israel; the couple later moved to Nuseirat in Gaza, where they had seven more children: Zuhour (22), Jwaher (21), Sabreen (20), Ghfran (17), Fady (16), Maisara (11) and Arjwan (8).
When militants from Gaza attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 — an assault that rights groups say killed about 1,200 people and left some 251 hostages — the al-Gharams became one of more than 300 "divided families" with members on both sides of the border. As Israel mounted a large-scale military response, the family chose to stay together in Gaza rather than separate the father, who could not obtain Israeli residency under current law.
Mais Al-Gharam, second from right, poses for a photo with her six siblings from Gaza, who were granted Israeli passports, in her home in Nazareth, Israel, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)(AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
The Strike That Changed Everything
On July 10, 2024, at about 6 a.m., an airstrike struck the family's home in Nuseirat. Walls collapsed and debris tore through the roof. The surviving siblings, dazed and injured, were taken to Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. Medical staff pronounced their mother, father and younger brother Maisara dead.
"Suddenly the burden fell on us," Sabreen said of the survivors' new responsibilities.
In the months that followed the siblings took on adult roles: they cooked, cleaned, collected firewood, opened a small bakery for income and relied on charity and remittances from relatives in Nazareth. They were displaced multiple times during early 2024 as fighting spread across Gaza.
Arjwan al-Gharam walks over debris inside her home after it was damaged during the Israel-Hamas war in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo)(AP Photo/undefined)
Legal Fight And Reunion
From Nazareth, Mais moved quickly to secure her siblings' passage to Israel. She contacted HaMoked, an Israeli rights organization, and together they drafted appeals to the Interior Ministry and COGAT, the military coordinator responsible for crossings and humanitarian affairs in Gaza. The process required entry permits, a court order naming Zuhour as legal guardian for the minors, DNA tests to prove kinship to Mais and multiple citizenship applications.
HaMoked reports that the Interior Ministry initially rejected the family's application under the "divided family" procedure because their mother had died, complicating the legal path. After DNA testing and further paperwork, the siblings signed documents at Kerem Shalom and entered Israel on July 8, nearly two years to the date of the strike that destroyed their home.
Mais Al-Gharam holds her son as she stands with her siblings from Gaza, who were granted Israeli passports, in her home in Nazareth, Israel, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)(AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Their drive to Nazareth took them from devastated streets in Gaza past Israel's irrigated fields and urban areas. In Nazareth they were met with hugs, meals and the immediate tasks of arranging medical care, schooling and long-term residency matters.
The Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment about the airstrike that destroyed the family's home.
Looking Ahead
The reunion marks a fragile new beginning. While the siblings are together again and have secured Israeli passports, they cannot reclaim their parents or the childhood they lost. Their immediate challenges include trauma recovery, health care for injuries from the strike, legal integration and schooling.
"Family is the most important thing," Jwaher said. "Now we have each other."
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