Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner has shared a heartbreaking snap of her daughter online, claiming she spends hours each day scouring the internet to find pictures of her children in Lebanon.
Ms Faulkner said the photo ‘was enough to break me into a million pieces’ when she posted it to her Facebook page on Tuesday.
In the photo, which shows a group of young schoolchildren smiling at the camera, Ms Faulkner’s daughter Lahela is seen standing away from the group and staring expressionless into the distance.
‘What is she thinking in this moment? She looks so lost,’ Ms Faulkner said alongside the photo of her daughter Lehela (back right)
Lahela, 6, and Ms Faulkner’s son Noah, 4, remain in Lebanon with their 32-year-old father Ali Elamine, who took the children to his home country under the guise of a three-week holiday and never returned.
Since Mr Elamine flew with the kids to Lebanon in May 2015, he has refused to return them to Australia or allow their mother to see them.
Ms Faulkner’s Facebook post is just the most recent cry for help in a very public appeal to bring her children back home.
Sally Faulkner pictured with her daughter Lahela – who now lives in Lebanon with her father
‘This was enough to break me into a million pieces today. Ali, look at our little girl’s face,’ Sally Faulkner wrote on Facebook
‘What is she thinking in this moment? She looks so lost,’ Ms Faulkner said alongside the photo.
‘I miss you Lahela. I hope you were looking out the window dreaming of the moment you and your brother come home and are truly happy again.
‘I just want to cuddle you and never let go. Don’t be sad baby. Please don’t be sad.’
Sally Faulkner wrote the words ‘I love you’ above her daughter’s head, in the photo she shared to Facebook
Sally Faulkner (left) with her two children Lahela (centre) and Noah (right) before they were taken to Lebanon with their father and never returned
Ms Faulkner goes on to say that the fight was not over and she would eventually bring her children home to Australia.
‘One day I’ll make this right and you will know that your mummy never gave you up,’ she said.
Ms Faulkner also pleaded with her estranged husband to look at the photo and consider the children’s feelings.
‘Ali, look at our little girl’s face. Isn’t this enough for you,’ she said.
‘Sickening. How’s your power trip going, Ali? Still convincing yourself you’ve done the right thing?’ Ms Faulkner posted alongside this before and after photo of her daughter, Lahela,
‘Another comparison shot. You can’t tell me you’ve done the right thing Ali,’ Sally Faulkner wrote on Instagram
Ms Faulkner also posted two side-by-side snaps of her two children appearing much more sad in photos taken since their move to Lebanon.
‘Another comparison shot. You can’t tell me you’ve done the right thing Ali,’ she said.
The emotional posts garnered a huge amount of attention online from people offering their support to the suffering mother.
‘This is absolutely heart breaking … don’t ever give up hope. Your children know you love them,’ one woman said.
‘I hope sense prevails soon, Sally, and Lahela and Noah are home with you,’ another woman said.
‘My heart breaks for you Sally. I cannot imagine what you go through on a daily basis without your babies. I will not stop praying that you are reunited with them soon and that they are both ok. Stay strong.’
Ali Elamine lives with his two children Noah (left) and Lahela (right) in Beirut, Lebanon
Ms Faulkner reportedly has not been in contact with Noah (left) or Lahela (right) since she left Beirut on April 21
Ms Faulkner’s public appeal to bring her children back hit headlines in April after a botched operation with the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes crew.
The crew attempted to snatch the children from their grandmother in a Beirut street but it was unsuccessful and landed crew members and Ms Faulkner in jail.
Ms Faulkner was forced to relinquish all custodial rights to the children in return for unlimited visits and holidays.
The conditions granted her release from jail on bail in Lebanon.
But since her release from jail and subsequent return to Australia, Ms Faulkner has reportedly not been allowed any contact with her children.
Ms Faulkner (right) was forced to relinquish all custodial rights to the children in return for unlimited visits and holidays, to ensure her release from jail in Lebanon (pictured with her two children and former husband Mr Elamine)