French court opens investigation over Beirut strike complaint — Asharq Al-Awsat
France has opened a judicial investigation following a complaint over an alleged war crime linked to a strike on a residential building in central Beirut in 2024. As Asharq Al-Awsat reports, the Paris court's unit for crimes against humanity appointed two judges to investigate.
The complaint was filed this year as a civil party by French-Lebanese artist Ali Cherri, with the participation of the International Federation for Human Rights. According to his lawyer, Clémence Bectart, this is the first judicial investigation in France into alleged war crimes by Israeli forces in Lebanon.
Deaths of civilians in Beirut
According to the complaint seen by AFP, seven civilians were killed on November 26, 2024, when a 12-storey residential building in central Beirut was bombed. Among those killed were Cherri's parents, aged 87 and 77. Three floors of the building were destroyed.
The complaint alleges that the strike occurred several hours before a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah came into force. The document cites research by Amnesty International and Forensic Architecture. AFP contacted the Israeli military for comment.
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Cherri told AFP that he had gone to court “for the dignity of all civilian victims.” He expressed hope that the investigation would help overcome the impunity of officials whom he considers responsible for attacks against civilians in Lebanon and Palestine.
Other proceedings
Other cases related to the actions of Israeli forces are also being considered in France. French-Lebanese man Mohammad H., represented by lawyer Emmanuel Daoud, is seeking an investigation following the deaths of his mother, sister and two nephews during strikes on Tyre on the night of April 16-17.
France's National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office, which also handles war crimes, previously opened investigations into allegations of torture and war crimes in connection with the interception by Israeli forces of humanitarian flotillas bound for Gaza in 2025 and 2026. It also asked a Paris judge to open an investigation into the deaths of two French children during Israeli bombing of Gaza in October 2023.
