Mr [Lawyer Chris Jurd] believed the action taken by Ms Hawach in the NSW Supreme Court last year to begin suing the family for emotional distress was in fact a “blind” so she could organise the return of her children, who had been taken to Lebanon by the father at the height of the Israel-Hezbollah war last July.

After the girls disappeared while in Sydney on a visit to Mr [Melissa Hawach]’s parents, Ms Hawach applied for and was granted sole custody in the Canadian courts.

An international arrest warrant has been issued for Ms Hawach by Lebanese authorities, while the Canadian courts have issued a warrant for child abduction against Mr Hawach.

THE family of the Australian father in a custody dispute stretching from Canada to Lebanon was last night still concerned about the fate of the children who were spirited back to North America by their mother.

Lawyer Chris Jurd said the parents of Joseph Hawach were relieved that Hannah, 5, and Cedar, 3, were alive and well after their mother Melissa Hawach, revealed in The Sunday Telegraph that they were back with her in Canada.

“The family are happy that the kids are alive and well,” he said. “The footage in the media is the first time any of the family in Australia have seen the kids since July last year. The family remains very, very concerned for the welfare of the kids.”

Mr Jurd believed the action taken by Ms Hawach in the NSW Supreme Court last year to begin suing the family for emotional distress was in fact a “blind” so she could organise the return of her children, who had been taken to Lebanon by the father at the height of the Israel-Hezbollah war last July.

“These were two very determined people,” he said.

“They both went to extreme steps. I don’t support the steps, but the family in Australia continue to support Joseph and wish the matter had been resolved simply. From the start, it seemed this was impossible.”

Ms Hawach told The Sunday Telegraph she couldn’t have cared less about the prospect of going to jail for snatching her children in December from their father, who had obtained custody of them under Lebanese law.

She revealed she had cut and dyed her blonde hair black and kept her daughters in hiding in Lebanon for seven weeks before smuggling them out of the country last week.

Two of the men she hired, David Pemberton and Brian Corrigan, remain in a Beirut prison charged with child abduction.

Canadian-born Ms Hawach and Mr Hawach married in Sydney. The couple separated in Canada in 2005.

After the girls disappeared while in Sydney on a visit to Mr Hawach’s parents, Ms Hawach applied for and was granted sole custody in the Canadian courts.

An international arrest warrant has been issued for Ms Hawach by Lebanese authorities, while the Canadian courts have issued a warrant for child abduction against Mr Hawach.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Ms Hawach said her greatest fear was losing her children.

“I was never worried about the courts, I was never worried about being arrested,” she said. “I couldn’t have cared less if I was thrown in jail. But I knew that if I was caught, my children would get turned back over, I wouldn’t know where they would go and I would never see them again. My greatest fear was losing them again.”