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Is Hezbollah responsible for the Beirut explosion?

Posted on 14 October 2021
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A few days ago, a protest of Hezbollah group, along with its ally, the Shi’it Amal Movement, took place in Beirut against the lead judge investigating last year’s huge explosion at Beirut’s port. Due to this incident, 6 people were killed and about 25 have been injured, according to the Red Cross. The protestors gathered outside the Justice Palace and soon enough political tensions developed, which led to the demand of removal of Judge Tarek Bitar. Hezbollah supports that the attacks started from christian snipers to provoke chaos. The situation brought back brutal memories from the Lebanese civil war.

The process of this investigation is quite challenging, as all high-profile politicians are being considered as possible suspects. Some of them had immunity, but there have been attempts to be lifted in the name of the investigation. This fact puts Judge Bitar in a difficult position, as he tries to reveal the truth, serving the rule of law against the powerful people of the country.

The Judge Bitar was previously accused of bias by seeking to question on suspicion of two former ministers and Amal MPs. This was the reason for the probe’s suspension once again, as it had already been suspended before during the last three weeks.

The investigation of last year’s explosion is still going on without any successful outcome. The incident took place in August 2020, when 2.750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been stored in a port warehouse unsafely, caught fire and resulted in this huge blast, along with the following dramatic economic crisis of the country. Senior officials knew about the existence of this material and yet they didn’t manage to secure, remove or destroy it.

The impact

The blast is considered one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions, causing more that 200 dead and 6.500 injured people. Besides that, the explosion caused damage to 163 public and private schools, made half of healthcare centres nonfunctional and had a significant impact on 56% of the city’s private businesses. The overall damage to infrastructure cost about 390-475 million dollars in total. The Lebanese pound has already lost 90% of its total value, as there is much loss in any kind of products and services.

It is also important to consider the environmental and health issues related to this incident, as the ammonia gas and nitrogen oxides that had been released into the air are harmful both to the environment and to the respiratory system. The hazardous chemicals may result in water and soil contamination as well.

In September 2021, a new government was formed in order to deal with the country’s economic meltdown. Lebanon had no government for at least one year, a fact that worsened the situation, but the new Prime Minister Mikati and President Aoun will try to overturn this tragedy.

Even though there is not a final decision indicating the responsible actors for the explosion, many believe that Hezbollah is culpable, due to its involvement in numerous cases with ammonium nitrate, the chemical which has been inflamed and exploded at the port. For instance, in May 2020, Mossad provided information to Germany about Hezbollah’s activities on its soil, including hundreds of kilograms of ammonium nitrate.

In another case, in 2019 the British intelligence managed to reveal, in North West London, a Hezbollah stockpiling of more than 3 tons of explosive, which were packed in disposable ice packs.

Similarly, in 2015 an agent of Hezbollah was found in Cyprus with more than 8 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in ice packs as well, and in 2012 a Swedish-Lebanese citizen who seems to be tied with Hezbollah, found with 3 tons of ammonium nitrate.

The aforementioned incidents along with Hezbollah’s tension to hide large weapons munitions warehouses in civilian areas, may raise concerns about Hezbollah’s acquaintance with this specific chemical substance at the specific place, and this is the reason why many fingers indicate the group as the responsible actor. That’s why Hezbollah starts to lose its popularity among people and moreover it is accused for the overall decline of the country

Conclusion

The explosion at the port of Beirut was one of the biggest ones regarding the non-nuclear ones. Since then, the country has shrunk into a greater crisis in the economic, health and environmental sector, with huge losses in infrastructure as well. The investigation for accountability is still going, while Judge Bitar has a challenging task to complete.

The recent protest by Hezbollah and its ally demonstrated the fragility of this issue, indicating the ‘opened’ wounds of the recent past, and the desire of people to support an investigation according to the rule of law.

Besides the fact that there is no official decision on who may be responsible for the chemical substances that were stored in the port and caused the explosion, there are a few concrete indicators that could be helpful to assess the situation.

Currently, the most important thing to focus, is the confrontation of the crisis. The existing challenges threaten the whole next generation. Already, the UN estimated that almost three-quarters of  the Lebanese populations live in poverty. Hopefully, the new government reformation will achieve a better management with transparency and lack of the political corruption of the past.

References

  • Abouzeid, M., Halwani, D. A., Mokdad, A. H., & Habib, R. R. (August 2021). A Generation at Risk: The Impacts of Lebanon’s Escalating Humanitarian Crisis on Children. Frontiers in Public Health. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.704678

https://www.readcube.com/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.704678

By The European Institute for International Law and International Relations.

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