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Lebanese-French Artist Files War-Crimes Complaint in France Over 2024 Beirut Strike

The case tests France’s ability to investigate alleged war crimes abroad using a victim’s dual nationality.

Overview

  • The complaint, which was filed Thursday in Paris, asks prosecutors to investigate an Israeli strike that killed seven civilians in a Beirut apartment block in November 2024.
  • The filing, lodged against unknown perpetrators, argues the bombing of a residential building may be a war crime under French and international law and relies on Forensic Architecture’s 3D reconstruction and Amnesty International’s documentation.
  • Amnesty says it found no military objective at or near the building and no effective advance warning for residents, and it supports a war-crimes investigation.
  • FIDH says French authorities can act even though the victims were not French because Ali Cherri holds French and Lebanese nationality and owned the apartment that was hit.
  • Israel’s Foreign Ministry referred questions to the military, which did not respond, and rights groups warn progress may be slow given likely non-cooperation as a similar strike in March killed cameraman Mohamad Shehab and his 4-year-old daughter near Beirut.