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BEIRUT: Hundreds of Lebanese gathered solemnly near Beirut’s coast on Monday to commemorate a half-decade since the cataclysmic port blast of 2020, 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 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.
The blast destroyed large swathes of Beirut, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless.
The names of all those killed were read out as protesters stood facing the wreckage of the Beirut grain silos, which were heavily damaged in the blast and continued to deteriorate and collapse for years after. At 6:07 p.m. — the time of the blast five years ago — the few hundred gathered stood for a moment of silence.
“I’m here because I find it crazy that five years later, we still don’t know exactly what happened,” said Catherine Otayek, 30. “I had hope for answers in 2020. I didn’t think we’d still be here.”
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.
Investigation stymied
The blast is thought to have been set off by a fire at a warehouse on the evening of August 4, 2020, detonating hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate. 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. Some Lebanese have drawn hope from pledges by President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam — both of whom came to power at the beginning of this year — to prioritize justice for blast victims.
On Monday, Aoun pledged to hold those responsible for the blast accountable, regardless of their position or political affiliation. “Justice will not die, and accountability will inevitably come,” he said.
The president and prime minister did not attend Monday’s commemoration. Judge Tarek Bitar resumed his investigation earlier this year and has questioned several officials in recent months — but he has yet to issue a preliminary indictment, which many Lebanese were hoping for ahead of the fifth anniversary.
“We want a preliminary indictment that is complete and comprehensive,” said Paul Naggear, whose three-year-old daughter Alexandra was killed in the blast. “We want to know who was supposed to evacuate our neighborhoods, so that we could get to the hospital, and so my daughter could have survived.”
Naggear and his wife Tracy have been among the most vocal advocates for accountability for the blast.
Rights groups have pressed for a full investigation that will establish the full chain of responsibility. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” said Reina Wehbi, Amnesty International’s Lebanon campaigner. “The families of those killed and injured in the Beirut explosion have waited an intolerable five years. They must not be forced to endure another year of impunity.”

JERUSALEM: Benjamin Netanyahu will convene his security cabinet this week to decide on Israel’s next steps in Gaza following the collapse of indirect ceasefire talks with Hamas, with one senior Israeli source suggesting more force could be an option.
Last Saturday, during a visit to the country, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had said he was working with the Israeli government on a plan that would effectively end the war in Gaza.
But Israeli officials have also floated ideas including expanding the military offensive in Gaza and annexing parts of the shattered enclave.
The failed ceasefire talks in Doha had aimed to clinch agreements on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce, during which aid would be flown into Gaza and half of the hostages Hamas is holding would be freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel.
After Netanyahu met Witkoff last Thursday, a senior Israeli official said that “an understanding was emerging between Washington and Israel,” of a need to shift from a truce to a comprehensive deal that would “release all the hostages, disarm Hamas, and demilitarize the Gaza Strip,” — Israel’s key conditions for ending the war.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday that the envoy’s visit was seen in Israel as “very significant.”
But later on Sunday, the Israeli official signalled that pursuit of a deal would be pointless, threatening more force:
“An understanding is emerging that Hamas is not interested in a deal and therefore the prime minister is pushing to release the hostages while pressing for military defeat.”

“Strategic clarity”
What a “military defeat” might mean, however, is up for debate within the Israeli leadership. Some Israeli officials have suggested that Israel might declare it was annexing parts of Gaza as a means to pressure the militant group.
Others, like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir want to see Israel impose military rule in Gaza before annexing it and re-establishing the Jewish settlements Israel evicted 20 years ago.
The Israeli military, which has pushed back at such ideas throughout the war, was expected on Tuesday to present alternatives that include extending into areas of Gaza where it has not yet operated, according to two defense officials.
While some in the political leadership are pushing for expanding the offensive, the military is concerned that doing so will endanger the 20 hostages who are still alive, the officials said.
Israeli Army Radio reported on Monday that military chief Eyal Zamir has become increasingly frustrated with what he describes as a lack of strategic clarity by the political leadership, concerned about being dragged into a war of attrition with Hamas militants.
A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declined to comment on the report but said that the military has plans in store.
“We have different ways to fight the terror organization, and that’s what the army does,” Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said.
On Tuesday, Qatar and Egypt endorsed a declaration by France and �������� outlining steps toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which included a call on Hamas to hand over its arms to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.
Hamas has repeatedly said it won’t lay down arms. But it has told mediators it was willing to quit governance in Gaza for a non-partisan ruling body, according to three Hamas officials.
It insists that the post-war Gaza arrangement must be agreed upon among the Palestinians themselves and not dictated by foreign powers.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar suggested on Monday that the gaps were still too wide to bridge.
“We would like to have all our hostages back. We would like to see the end of this war. We always prefer to get there by diplomatic means, if possible. But of course, the big question is, what will be the conditions for the end of the war?” he told journalists in Jerusalem.