Lebanese-origin French artist Ali Cherri has filed a war crimes complaint in France against Israel, following the 2024 airstrike in Beirut that killed his parents. Cherri stated that his father Mahmoud Cherri and mother Nadra Hayek were civilians, and he urged France’s war crimes unit to investigate the attack and bring those responsible to justice.

Israel has said its airstrikes in the Lebanese capital targeted facilities used by the armed group Hezbollah. However, international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, reviewed Cherri’s case and reported finding no evidence of military targets in or near the building where his parents lived.

Cherri’s lawyer, Clémence Bectarte, told Al Jazeera that under French law, the Israeli strike could be considered a war crime. She added that Israel’s military and political authorities were justifying the attacks under the pretext of fighting Hezbollah, but international law requires strict adherence to rules governing military conduct.