A grandmother of two French children, brutally slain in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza, has launched a searing legal complaint against Israel in France, hurling accusations of genocide, crimes against humanity, and cold-blooded murder at Tel Aviv’s doorstep.
Jacqueline Rivault, a resolute resident of Vitry-sur-Seine near Paris, issued a 48-page complaint through her lawyer, Arie Alimi, to the French judicial unit tasked with confronting crimes against humanity, as reported by the French daily Libération.
At the heart of this harrowing case lie the tragic deaths of Janna and Abderrahim Abudaher, aged just 6 and 9, mercilessly killed on 24 October 2023, when a house in northern Gaza was obliterated by two missiles, allegedly fired from an Israeli F-16 fighter jet in a cataclysmic act of destruction.
Their brother Omar and mother, Yasmine Z., were also grievously wounded in the ferocious airstrike, their lives forever scarred by this tragedy.
The complaint reveals that the family, driven by relentless bombardment, had fled their apartment days earlier, seeking refuge in various shelters before being targeted in a home between Fallujah and Beit Lahia.
Abderrahim was killed instantly, while Janna, clinging to life, succumbed to her wounds shortly after reaching the hospital.
The blistering complaint asserts that this attack was a calculated fragment of a broader Israeli campaign, ruthlessly aimed at “eliminating the Palestinian population.”
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It accuses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his government, and the Israeli military of orchestrating genocidal strikes.
France may assert jurisdiction due to the French nationality of the young victims, though similar legal endeavours in France have faltered in the past, their cries for justice unanswered.
Due to the graphic nature and irrefutable documentation of this case, activists hope that it will compel French courts to deliver a ruling on the genocide allegations—allegations that Israel has dismissed.
Yet, the case is fraught with complexity, as the children’s mother, Yasmine Z., faces an arrest warrant issued by France in 2019, having been convicted in absentia for “financing terrorism.”
She was found to have sent funds to members of Palestinian resistance groups, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas, between 2012 and 2013.
Hamas, designated a terror group in both France and the United Kingdom, carries a heavy punishment: any support, verbal, political, or financial, can lead to a severe prison sentence.
This legal action comes amid escalating international outrage against Israel’s relentless military onslaught on Gaza, which began on 7 October 2023.
Since the 7 October, nearly 54,700 Palestinians, predominantly innocent civilians, have been slaughtered in Israeli strikes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, whose figures are endorsed by the United Nations.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, branding them with allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
International human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Federation for Human Rights, have resoundingly accused Israel of committing acts of genocide in Gaza.
In January 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a historic order, commanding Israel to take every measure to prevent genocide, while the UN’s humanitarian chief, in a desperate plea in May, urged world leaders to act swiftly to halt the cascade of mass atrocities.
Yet, Israel’s extreme right-wing government continues to deny committing war crimes in Gaza, proclaiming that it merely seeks to eliminate Hamas.
