Responding to the civil complaint filed before France’s War Crimes Unit by French-Lebanese artist and filmmaker Ali Cherri and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) regarding a November 2024 Israeli military attack on a civilian building in central Beirut which killed seven civilians, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Heba Morayef said:
Amnesty’s research into the attack found no evidence of a military target in the vicinity at the time of the attack and concluded the strike should be investigated as a war crime.
Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa
“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. This case could offer some form of accountability and reparation to victims of this deadly attack. The strike on the residential building, killed at least seven civilians, destroyed several people’s homes. Amnesty’s research into the attack found no evidence of a military target in the vicinity at the time of the attack and concluded the strike should be investigated as a war crime.
“Since October 2023, Amnesty International has documented serious and repeated violations of international humanitarian law by parties to the conflict in Lebanon, including numerous Israeli airstrikes on residential buildings that killed scores of civilians. More than a year later, none of the victims of these attacks have received justice or reparations and with the renewed intensification of hostilities, people in Lebanon are being forced again to witness their family members being killed, their homes destroyed, and their safety threatened.
“Given Israel’s escalating attacks and longstanding impunity, states should urgently use universal or other extraterritorial jurisdiction to investigate serious violations of international humanitarian law and, where evidence permits, prosecute those responsible for war crimes in national courts.
The Lebanese government should cooperate with the proceedings and take other measures to seek accountability for Israeli’s serious violations of international humanitarian law in Lebanon, including by accepting the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction, to ensure credible investigations and meaningful redress for victims.”
Background
In February 2026, Amnesty International published an investigation into the 26 November 2024 strike on the Cherri building in the Nouweiri neighbourhood of Beirut, carried out just hours before a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect. This attack killed Ali Cherri’s parents, Nadira Hayek (78) and Mahmoud Naim Cherri (88) and their Iive-in helper Birki Negesa, along with at least four other civilians, all residents of the same building.
The organization found no effective advance warnings were issued, Israel identified no military target before or after the strike, and no military objectives were present in the vicinity at the time. These findings provide reasonable grounds to conclude that the strike violated international humanitarian law and should be investigated as a war crime.
Since 2 March 2026, hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have intensified significantly across Lebanon, marked by sustained Israeli airstrikes, ground invasion and mass evacuation orders.
According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health on 1 April, 1,318 people have been killed since then—including 125 children and 91 women—and 3,935 others wounded with more than 1.2 million people newly displaced.
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