A Lebanese-French artist has filed a legal complaint in a Paris court regarding an Israeli bombing of his family home in Beirut that killed his parents and a domestic worker, alleging the attack could constitute a war crime. The suit, submitted to France's war crimes unit on Tuesday, represents a rare instance of an individual pursuing war crimes charges for an Israeli bombing and marks the first time a French court has taken a case concerning Israel's bombing campaign in Lebanon.
Ali Cherri, the artist behind the complaint, stated: "Our demand is that an investigation is opened so that we know for a fact what happened, to name this attack as a war crime against civilians, and hopefully being able to name the people responsible for this." The bombing occurred on November 26, 2024, just hours before a ceasefire was established between Hezbollah and Israel, during a 13-month conflict that killed approximately 4,000 people in Lebanon.
In February, Amnesty International conducted an investigation into the strike and concluded there was no evidence of a military target at the time of the attack, recommending it be investigated as a war crime. Forensic Architecture, a UK-based investigative rights group that assisted in preparing the legal complaint, created a 3D model of the struck building and identified the munition used as a GBU-39—a 250lb (115kg) guided bomb produced by the United States and commonly deployed by Israel in attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.
Heba Morayef, Amnesty International's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, commented: "Amidst a longstanding pattern of serious violations of international humanitarian law by Israeli forces in Lebanon, and as Israel once again steps up its attacks, if war crimes unit prosecutors open an investigation into this complaint, this would offer a rare opportunity to examine Israel's actions in a European court given the general impunity it usually enjoys." The case gains urgency amid renewed fighting between Israel and Lebanon, where similar incidents to the Cherri family bombing are reportedly recurring.
Cherri expressed skepticism about anyone in Israel being held criminally liable for the strike on his family's building but emphasized the importance of filing the case: "Either you accept that you're a victim and accept your fate, like unfortunately a lot of Lebanese have to do. Or you take it as a responsibility for all the other people who can't go through this legal process." The context includes the recent death of a photographer who collaborated with Forensic Architecture, killed in an Israeli strike under circumstances described as similar to the Cherri home bombing.
Source: www.theguardian.com