Grandmother files war crimes case in Paris over Gaza killings
PARIS: The grandmother of two children with French nationality killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza has filed a legal complaint in Paris, accusing Israel of 'genocide' and 'murder,' her lawyer said on Friday.
Jacqueline Rivault filed her complaint with the 'crimes against humanity' section of the Court of Paris, lawyer Arie Alimi said.
Rivault hopes the fact that her daughter's children, aged six and nine, were French citizens means the country's judiciary will decide it has jurisdiction to designate a magistrate to investigate the allegations.
Rights groups, lawyers, and some Israeli historians have described the Gaza war as 'genocide.'
Jacqueline Rivault filed her complaint with the 'crimes against humanity' section of the Court of Paris, lawyer Arie Alimi said.
The complaint states that 'two F16 missiles fired by the Israeli army' killed Janna, six, and Abderrahim Abudaher, nine, in northern Gaza on October 24, 2023.
They and their family had sought refuge in another home 'between Faluja and Beit Lahia' after leaving their own two days earlier due to heavy bombardment, the 48-page document stated.
One missile entered 'through the roof and the second directly into the room where the family was,' it said.
Abderrahim was killed instantly, while his sister Janna died shortly after being taken to the hospital.
The complaint argues the 'genocide' allegation is based on the air strike being part of a larger Israeli project to 'eliminate the Palestinian population and submit it to living conditions of a nature to entail the destruction of their group.'
Though formally against unnamed parties, the complaint explicitly targets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli government, and the military.
The children's brother Omar was severely wounded but still lives in Gaza with their mother, identified as Yasmine Z., the complaint said.
A French court in 2019 convicted Yasmine Z. in absentia of having funded a 'terrorist' group by distributing money in Gaza to members of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.
Israel's offensive in Gaza has killed 54,677 people, mostly civilians, according to the Health Ministry there, figures the UB deems reliable.
No court has so far ruled that the ongoing conflict is a genocide.
But in rulings in January, March, and May 2024, the International Court of Justice, the UN's highest judicial organ, told Israel to do everything possible to 'prevent' acts of genocide during its military operations in Gaza.
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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