What are the facts behind the case ?
On 26 November 2024, an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building located in the Burj Abou Haidar neighborhood in Beirut (Lebanon). The apartment of Franco-Lebanese artist Ali Cherri, located on the 9th floor, was completely destroyed. His two parents, Mahmoud Naim Cherri and Nadira Hayek, who lived there, were killed, along with Birki Negesa, who worked for the couple.
This bombing was part of a wider military offensive carried out by Israel in Lebanon since October 2023. Initially confined to cross-border clashes, the fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli army quickly escalated into a larger-scale armed conflict.
In September 2024, the then Israeli Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, announced the launch of a military operation called "Northern Arrows" which involved intense bombardments on Lebanese territory, notably targeting civilian infrastructure and residential areas. Israeli authorities purportedly justified these attacks in the name of the fight against Hezbollah and the presence of terrorist targets.
At the end of November 2024, a ceasefire agreement was concluded between Israel and Hezbollah. On 26 November 2024, the day before the ceasefire came into effect, the Israeli army carried out bombardments in several neighborhoods of Beirut and its southern suburbs, including the one where the residential building housing Ali Cherri’s apartment—where his parents lived—was located.
The explosion completely destroyed Ali Cherri’s apartment as well as those located on the 7th and 8th floors of the building.
On 2 April 2026, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Ali Cherri filed a complaint for war crimes against unknown perpetrators before the French War Crimes Unit.
According to UNICEF, more than 4,000 people were killed in Lebanon between the start of hostilities and the entry into force of the ceasefire on 27 November 2024. Since that date, a large number of civilians have been killed by the Israeli army in Lebanon, particularly following the renewed intensification of bombardments in early March 2026.
No judicial proceedings have yet been initiated in Lebanon or in other States concerning these attacks.
What offence is reported in the complaint?
Based on digital reconstruction work carried out by the organisation Forensic Architecture, as well as documentation from Amnesty International, the complaint highlights the deliberate nature of the attack against the residential building where Ali Cherri’s apartment was located, and establishes the responsibility of the Israeli army for this bombing.
These elements also demonstrate a clear violation of international humanitarian law, which requires strict compliance with the principle of distinction between military objectives and civilian population and objects in times of armed conflict.
The civil party complaint was therefore filed on the basis of the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against a civilian object, punishable under French criminal law by 15 years of imprisonment.
Why was the complaint not filed on the grounds of willful killing?
French courts have jurisdiction over offences committed on French soil. They also have jurisdiction when an offence has been committed by a French national or against a French victim.
In this case, none of the three victims who died as a result of the bombing were French nationals, which prevents French authorities from exercising jurisdiction on the basis of willful killing. However, Ali Cherri’s dual Franco-Lebanese citizenship makes it possible to seek the opening of an investigation into the unlawful bombing of the apartment he owned.
What are the next steps in the proceedings?
Unlike a regular complaint, a civil party complaint allows the victim to directly refer the matter to an investigating judge in order to request the opening of a judicial investigation.
It is then for the public prosecutor to request that the investigating judge either open or refuse to open a judicial investigation. The public prosecutor’s requests will mark the start of the judicial investigation phase and determine its scope.
If a judicial investigation is opened, it will be handled by the specialised French War Crimes Unit. The investigative judges will have extensive investigative powers—including ordering expert reports, conducting hearings, or issuing warrants, including arrest warrants—in order to identify and determine the extent of criminal responsibility related to the 26 November 2024 bombing that targeted Ali Cherri’s apartment.