Aussie mum allegedly groomed her toddlers to be Islamic State terrorists with graphic extremist propaganda videos - as returned ISIS bride makes her bid for freedom

By WAYNE FLOWER, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 04:06, 13 July 2026 | Updated: 04:07, 13 July 2026 An Australian woman accused of joining Islamic State allegedly filmed her own young children being shown extremist propaganda over a period of at least two years.  ISIS bride Rayann El Houli, 34, returned to Australia last year and was charged with terrorism offences after living in the community for months. The Broadmeadows woman was charged with one count of entering, or remaining in, declared areas, contrary to Australian law and one count of being a member of a terrorist organisation.  She faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday via video link from the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, where she hopes to be freed from if granted bail this week.  Her bail has been strongly opposed by Australian Federal Police, who claim she remains a threat to the entire community if released on bail.  AFP Senior Constable Paul Sherlock told the court no bail restrictions could mitigate the risk El Houli posed if released from jail.  The officer took the court through several videos allegedly featuring El Houli,  including one video in which she was heard coaching her eldest daughter, then a toddler, on how to hold a toy weapon 'the way the mujahideen' do.  El Houli allegedly travelled from Melbourne to Syria in September 2014 with her husband and two infant children, then aged around one year and three months.  Alleged ISIS bride Rayann El Houli upon her arrest by Australian Federal Police  She remained in IS-held territory for roughly three years before the group's territorial defeat in 2019, during which time she had two more children and married two further Australian members of the group, both of whom were later killed.  The court heard police alleged El Houli appeared in at least three videos over 2015 and 2016 in which she was heard prompting her children with scripted questions about violence and religious duty, set against a backdrop of jihadist chanting. A May 2015 video allegedly captured El Houli repeatedly asking her eldest child who the ‘mujahideen’ were and what happened to people IS referred to as ‘disbelievers’.  The child was allegedly prompted into answering: 'Hellfire.'  'Did you see how the mujahideen killed the kuffar, the infidels, with the knife? Look at me - how do they sword them with the knife? How do they slaughter him with the knife?' she allegedly asked.  'How do they slaughter the apostate? Show me how.' The child, barely old enough to speak in full sentences, did not answer several of the questions. Prosecutors say a second video, recorded in March 2016, showed El Houli exposing two of her children to further extremist material, including French and Arabic language propaganda addressed to western audiences  Alleged ISIS bride Rayann El Houli as she appeared in court in May. She has since stopped covering her face  A third video, filmed days later in the same month, allegedly captured El Houli instructing the child on how to hold a toy gun 'like a terrorist' and asking her on camera to demonstrate how fighters 'slaughter' opponents with a knife. The AFP alleges the recordings were not simply passive exposure to propaganda, but a deliberate and repeated pattern of behaviour. El Houli allegedly used her own small children as subjects in extremist media, filming over roughly ten months.  The court heard the videos were discovered years later from the phones of her relatives in Australia. Between 2019 and 2020, AFP investigators - then operating as part of a now-disbanded returning-terrorism taskforce - executed six search warrants on family members' homes.  Devices seized in those raids revealed years of WhatsApp contact between El Houli in Syria and her family, including the videos, along with images allegedly showing her children in a room with an assault rifle propped against the wall.  The court heard El Houli had been offered counselling to deradicalise her after her return to Australia, but she initially declined to take part.  Her barrister Peter Morrissey SC told the court at an earlier hearing his client had since rejected the Islamic State terror group and wanted 'nothing to do with it'. 'She renounces ISIS and violent jihad, she wants nothing to do with it. Not now, not in the future, not directly, not indirectly. Not for herself, not for the people she loves and specifically not for her children,' he said. Barrister Peter Morrissey SC departs Melbourne Magistrates Court last month El Houli had been held by Kurdish authorities since March 2019 after the collapse of Islamic State and remained in al-Hawl camp with family members. Police allege she travelled to Syria with several individuals, including a man believed to be imprisoned in the Middle East.  The return of former ISIS-linked women Kawsar Abbas, her daughters Zeinab and Zahra Ahmad, and Janai Safar in May led authorities to also charge Ms El Houli. Kawsar Abbas and Zeinab Ahmad have also been accused of crimes against humanity and slavery-related offences connected to alleged conduct in Syria. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.