France Opens War Crimes Probe into Beirut Strike That Killed Ali Cherri's Parents

France's War Crimes Unit has opened a judicial investigation into the Israeli bombing of a Beirut residential building that killed the parents of Lebanese-French artist Ali Cherri in November 2024. The inquiry, announced by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), appears to be the first of its kind anywhere.

"To our knowledge, this is the very first judicial investigation opened into the crimes committed by the Israeli army in Lebanon since October 2023," said Clémence Bectarte, a lawyer and coordinator of the FIDH Litigation Action Group. "We hope that this investigation will shed full light on the bombing of 26 November 2024, which we qualified as a war crime in our complaint."

What happened on 26 November 2024?

The strike hit a residential building in Beirut's Noueiri neighborhood just hours before a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was set to take effect. Seven people died, including Cherri's parents, Mahmoud Naim Cherri and Nadira Hayek, and Birki Negesa, a domestic worker employed by the couple.

The attack destroyed the ninth-floor apartment where the family lived. The building's seventh and eighth floors were also destroyed.

Cherri and the FIDH filed their complaint six months ago, alleging the Israeli military intentionally targeted a civilian structure — an act they argue amounts to a war crime.

Who is Ali Cherri?

Cherri, who lives and works between Paris and Beirut, is one of Lebanon's most prominent contemporary artists. He won the Silver Lion at the 2022 Venice Biennale, where his sculpture triad Titans and video installation Of Men and Gods and Mud (both 2022) appeared in the main exhibition, "The Milk of Dreams," curated by Cecilia Alemani.

His recent New York exhibition at Almine Rech, "Last Watch Before Dawn," extended a long-running thread in his work: the archaeology of conflict and its excavation in political memory.

What can the French courts actually decide?

Here the case runs into a legal boundary. Because Cherri holds dual French and Lebanese nationality, the investigation will cover only the bombing of the apartment itself. French courts lack jurisdiction over the deaths of the victims, who were not French nationals, according to the FIDH.

"The opening of this judicial investigation marks another important step in our fight against impunity and our struggle for justice for those who were killed," Cherri said in a statement. "For my family and me, it is essential that this investigation establish responsibility, and ensure that those who ordered and carried out this bombing are held accountable for their actions."

What's the wider context?

Israel launched its military campaign in Lebanon in September 2024, saying it targeted the Iran-allied militant group Hezbollah. Aerial bombardments across the Beirut region and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon displaced roughly 1 million people.

In April, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported nearly 10,000 violations of the ceasefire by Israeli forces in less than a year, including more than 500 airstrikes carried out on an "almost daily" basis. UN experts have also warned of a "mounting toll of civilian deaths and injuries."

Israel rejects accusations it has violated the ceasefire, describing its operations in southern Lebanon as responses to violations by Hezbollah. The French investigation now moves forward against that backdrop, and its findings could set a precedent for how European courts handle alleged war crimes committed in Lebanon since October 2023.