Lebanon marks 5th anniversary of Beirut port blast

Hundreds of Lebanese gathered to mark five years since Beirut blast when more than 200 people were killed in one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. Carrying Lebanese flags and portraits of some of the victims, many of those standing said that they felt deeply disappointed that no one has been held to account for the devastating explosion. 

“Can someone tell me why five years on we’re still standing here? If everyone stands with this cause, then who’s against us? said William Noun, whose brother Joseph, a firefighter was killed by the blast. “This file needs to close. It’s been five years and we don’t want to have a sixth, “Noun said from a stage set up near the port. 

Although she did not lose anyone herself, the Lebanese expatriate living in France said she made it a point to return to Beirut every year for the commemoration as a duty to fellow Lebanese. The port blast came nearly a year into Lebanon’s catastrophic economic collapse and was followed by a political crisis that paralyzed government and a devastating war between Hezbollah and Israel starting in 2023. 

The blast is thought to have been set off by a fire at a warehouse on the evening of August 4, 2020, detonbating hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate. Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he will convene his security cabinet this week to decide on Israel's next steps in Gaza. Lebanese officials promised at the time that an investigation into the blast's root causes would be completed in five days. But years of political interference stymied the probe, with judicial officials and then-ministers continually raising legal challenges against the investigating judges, effectively paralysing the investigation.