Israel is in the process of invading and occupying southern Lebanon. That’s not unusual, of course, and they’ve launched multiple invasions of southern Lebanon in recent years, largely with little to no legal consequence.
The Paris Judicial Court’s crimes against humanity unit today reported they are appointing a pair of investigating judges to war crimes complaints related to an Israeli attack on Beirut in 2024, which targeted a residential building and killed seven civilians.
Ali Cherri, a Lebanon-born French filmmaker, filed the complaint, noting that his parents, aged 87 and 77 at the time, were among those civilians killed in the strike. He filed the complaint with the French court system in early April of this year.
A view shows a damaged site in the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon October 8, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmad Al-Kerdi
The strike was during the waning days of the previous Israeli war, as the IDF most recently started invading southern Lebanon again in March of 2026. While this investigation itself doesn’t directly relate to the current invasion, that doesn’t mean it’s not consequential.
Amnesty International praised the court’s move, calling it “a critical, long-overdue step towards making a dent in the wall of pervasive impunity enjoyed by Israeli forces for war crimes,” and could set the stage for the court to move on other complaints that are related to the current war, which are still pending.
The courts have also received complaints from a French citizen who lost both parents and other family members in the mid-April attacks on Tyre, and a French entrepreneur has complained about Israeli forces uprooting olive trees belonging to his family.
Several more strikes were reported by Israeli forces against southern Lebanon today. No casualties were reported, but damage was done against several municipalities, including Kfar Tebnit.
