Rights activists on Tuesday filed a lawsuit at a Paris court alleging that two French-Israeli snipers committed war crimes in Gaza between November 2023 and March last year.
The two men, identified as Sasha A and Gabriel P, are known to be members of a 20-strong sniper group in the Israeli army’s paratroopers brigade known as the Ghost Unit, half of which is composed of dual citizens.
It stands accused of shooting at unarmed civilians in Gaza, acts that would constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, activists said.
The complaint, lodged at the war crimes unit of the Paris tribunal, is based on an investigation by Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi that he published on X in October last year. It includes an interview with a US-born sergeant who led the Ghost Unit.
“The fact that they are members of this elite unit under the orders of this sergeant indicates that they are authors, or co-authors, or at least accomplices of crimes under international law,” Alexis Deswaef, vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), told The National.
“They can be prosecuted and judged even if they are physically absent. It's important that the judiciary does its work because impunity breeds further impunity.”
In Mr Tirawi's investigation, the sergeant, speaking Hebrew, identifies killings carried out by members of his team in a video shown to him by an unnamed interviewer. The context of the interview, in which the sergeant openly discusses his unit's operations, remains unclear.
The sergeant claims all of the snipers' victims were “terrorists”. According to translated captions, he says: “They want to exploit our humaneness. They think, 'Oh, I don’t think they’ll shoot us because we’re in civilian clothes, because we don’t lift up our weapons' and all that, but they were wrong and that’s what snipers are for.”
The FIDH filed the lawsuit along with its Palestinian and French member organisations – Al-Haq, Al Mezan, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and France's Human Rights League (LDH) – as well as the Association France Palestine Solidarite (AFPS).
It includes testimonies compiled by Al Mezan of Gazans who describe being shot by snipers as they attempted to retrieve the bodies of their relatives. One witness, whose 17-year-old daughter was killed, said she was shot in the head as she was fetching water. Another described the death of his three sons at the hands of Israeli snipers.
“The convergence of witness accounts and the visual documentation presented by Tirawi strongly points to the involvement of the same snipers in a co-ordinated campaign of extrajudicial killings across various locations in Gaza,” said Issam Younes, general director of Al Mezan.
Emmanuel Daoud, lawyer for LDH and AFPS, said France "must ensure that these crimes do not go unpunished and guarantee the prosecution of those responsible, especially when they are its own nationals". The Israeli army is believed to include 4,000 French citizens.
The lawsuit comes six months after the FIDH and other NGOs filed a lawsuit at the crimes against humanity division of the Paris judicial court against another French-Israeli soldier, Yoel O, who published a video in which he appears to insult Palestinian detainees presenting signs of torture.
A first lawsuit filed by the same human rights groups in April last year was dismissed by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office, which mentioned an “insufficiently characterised offence”.
Investigations were also launched last year into members of the “Ghost Unit” in Belgium and South Africa. Its members include three US citizens, two French, one Belgian, one South African, one Italian and other Israelis with unknown dual nationalities, Mr Tirawi said.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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COMPANY PROFILE
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Industry: e-commerce
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Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
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What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
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- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
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- Torque: 760nm
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- Price: Not announced yet
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Top investing tips for UAE residents in 2021
Build an emergency fund: Make sure you have enough cash to cover six months of expenses as a buffer against unexpected problems before you begin investing, advises Steve Cronin, the founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com.
Think long-term: When you invest, you need to have a long-term mindset, so don’t worry about momentary ups and downs in the stock market.
Invest worldwide: Diversify your investments globally, ideally by way of a global stock index fund.
Is your money tied up: Avoid anything where you cannot get your money back in full within a month at any time without any penalty.
Skip past the promises: “If an investment product is offering more than 10 per cent return per year, it is either extremely risky or a scam,” Mr Cronin says.
Choose plans with low fees: Make sure that any funds you buy do not charge more than 1 per cent in fees, Mr Cronin says. “If you invest by yourself, you can easily stay below this figure.” Managed funds and commissionable investments often come with higher fees.
Be sceptical about recommendations: If someone suggests an investment to you, ask if they stand to gain, advises Mr Cronin. “If they are receiving commission, they are unlikely to recommend an investment that’s best for you.”
Get financially independent: Mr Cronin advises UAE residents to pursue financial independence. Start with a Google search and improve your knowledge via expat investing websites or Facebook groups such as SimplyFI.
Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
Volvo ES90 Specs
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NBA FINALS SO FAR
(Toronto lead 3-2 in best-of-seven series)
Game 1 Raptors 118 Warriors 109
Game 2 Raptors 104 Warriors 109
Game 3 Warriors 109 Raptors 123
Game 4 Warriors 92 Raptors 105
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Game 6 Thursday, at Oakland
Game 7 Sunday, at Toronto (if needed)
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
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Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 2.2-litre, turbodiesel
Transmission: 6-speed auto
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Ovo's tips to find extra heat
- Open your curtains when it’s sunny
- Keep your oven open after cooking
- Have a cuddle with pets and loved ones to help stay cosy
- Eat ginger but avoid chilli as it makes you sweat
- Put on extra layers
- Do a few star jumps
- Avoid alcohol
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