French-Lebanese man files legal complaint over Israel's uprooting of 600 olive trees

A French businessman of Lebanese origin has filed a legal complaint against unknown individuals over alleged war crimes, accusing the Israeli military of uprooting 600 centuries-old olive trees owned by his family, his lawyers told AFP on Wednesday.

The 37-year-old Frenchman, who has not been publicly named, said in the complaint that some of the trees were up to 500 years old and had been uprooted from land cultivated by his family for 250 years in the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiya, his birthplace in southern Lebanon.

According to the civil complaint, filed over theft, destruction and damage to property that it alleges amount to war crimes, the trees were uprooted from the ground.

The plaintiff, who states in his complaint that he is "not a member or supporter of Hezbollah" – the armed group fighting Israel – said he suspects the trees were transported to Israel. The complaint adds: "There is no evidence to indicate that Hezbollah was using the house or agricultural fields for military purposes".

Israel has often claimed that its attacks in southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs or other parts of the country are targeting Hezbollah bases and operatives. Close to 9,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the conflict erupted in October 2023.

According to the plaintiff, a digital entrepreneur, his family home was completely destroyed in an Israeli airstrike just hours before a ceasefire was announced in southern Lebanon in April 2026.

He said that the Israeli army took full control of his village a few weeks later, followed by the uprooting of the olive trees, after Lebanon and Israel signed a framework agreement in late June, which Israel has failed to uphold.

The complaint argues that "the destruction and uprooting of olive trees is evidence of war crimes committed by Israel in southern Lebanon," citing in particular a report by Amnesty International.

"These events are part of a broader context of ethnic cleansing and the destruction of numerous villages by Israel in southern Lebanon. Our client expects the French justice system to do everything in its power to identify those responsible and bring them to justice," his lawyers told AFP.

Lebanese officials, NGOs and local residents have condemned the systematic destruction of farmland, particularly through burning, by Israel in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military has used white phosphorus, banned under international law.

Southern Lebanon is home to a significant share of Lebanon’s olive groves, an important part of the country’s agricultural sector, which has been significantly impacted by the war.

Since invading Lebanon in October 2024, just a year after the start of hostilities with Hezbollah, Israel has widened its occupation to include large swathes of the south along the entire border.

Dozens of towns and villages have been razed or largely devastated in the so-called "Yellow Line," a security zone established by the Israeli military which it says is to push Hezbollah back from the border.

Despite a lull in fighting since the June agreement, Israeli attacks have continued across the south, including home demolitions.

Other complaints have been filed in Paris against the Israeli military over alleged war crimes in Lebanon, including one brought by French-Lebanese artist Ali Cherri, who lost his parents in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Beirut in April, and another filed in July by a French-Lebanese man who lost his mother, sister and two nephews in Israeli airstrikes.

Israel conducted more than 100 strikes in 10 minutes on Beirut and across Lebanon on 8 April, a day after the US-Iran ceasefire was announced, massacring more than 350 people in what has become locally known as 'Black Wednesday'.

Israel has refused to leave Lebanon before Hezbollah is fully disarmed, but the Iran-backed group has refused to surrender its weapons as long as the occupation continues.