France Opens Probe Into Beirut Strike on Ali Cherri’s Apartment

French judicial authorities have opened an investigation into the November 2024 bombing of artist Ali Cherri’s apartment building in Beirut, examining whether civilian property was deliberately attacked, a possible war crime under French law. Two investigating judges at the Paris Judicial Court were assigned to the case after Cherri and the International Federation for Human Rights filed a complaint. The complaint was filed in April against unknown perpetrators. The investigation concerns the strike on Cherri’s apartment, not a prosecution for the deaths of his parents. The bombing killed seven civilians, including Cherri’s parents, according to the complaint and reporting on the attack. The strike hit a residential building in Beirut’s Noueiri neighborhood on November 26, 2024, hours before a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect. The attack destroyed Cherri’s apartment and damaged other floors of the building. Cherri, who holds French and Lebanese nationality, and his lawyer, Clémence Bectarte, said the French proceedings are limited to the bombing of the apartment because his parents were not French nationals. Bectarte said the complaint concerns the...