The catastrophic port blast that shattered Lebanese hearts and hope

The catastrophe inflicted a profound sense of despair, hopelessness, and fear on most of the Lebanese population, who had already been grappling with challenges for years, with living standards already falling and a wider sense of societal decline.

Those wider feelings of decay led to what became known as the 17 October Revolution in 2019. During it, people protested against their political leaders, openly expressing their discontent in public spaces.

But the movement was unable to dilute the dominance of Hezbollah and the Amal movement and waned into a renewed sense of fear and despondency which enveloped the Lebanese people until the devastating explosion.

After the blast, there were hopes that the global community would help Lebanon recover, but they proved to be in vain. Many young people started to look for ways to leave the country. It has now joined the list of nations linked to the flows of irregular migrants taking to dangerous sea voyages across the Mediterranean.

Two explosions and an abyss

Lebanon's decline can be traced back to another major explosion that took place in its capital 15 years before the port blast.

It involved a truck loaded with over a ton of high explosives, driven by a radicalised suicide bomber. It was detonated on the outskirts of Beirut, not far from the port in February 2005.

It assassinated the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, along with dozens of others who happened to be in the vicinity. Hariri was an important figure in Lebanon's recovery from the civil wars between 1975 and 1990, and his murder removed his voice from Lebanon's public life.

Read more: The legacy of Rafik Hariri and the collapse of the Lebanese state

The assassination caused widespread public outrage.  Millions of Lebanese people took to the streets in protest. An international tribunal was established to investigate and uncover the perpetrators behind the act and their underlying motives.

But a distressing pattern emerged after the killing.

Political assassinations continued, claiming the lives of over 15 Lebanese political and security figures, the majority of whom were opponents of Hezbollah and the Syrian regime, whose army and intelligence apparatus were forced to withdraw from Lebanese territories.

This withdrawal was marked by a demonstration held by supporters and followers of the Syrian regime, who expressed their gratitude to President Bashar al-Assad with the slogan "Thank you, al-Assad, Syria."

After the port explosion, Lebanon was anxiously waiting for the verdict from the international tribunal on Hariri's murder. It pointed to the involvement of Salim Ayyash, a military commander in Hezbollah, in the plot.

But the court did not find enough evidence to implicate several other war leaders, leading to their removal from the list of conspirators and participants. The court urged the Lebanese authorities to cooperate and hand over Salim Ayyash to international justice, but Hezbollah refused. It claimed the plot was run by Israel and the US.

About a month before the third anniversary of the blast, Mustafa Alloush, a former member of the leadership of the Future Movement and a former member of the Lebanese Parliament, made an important statement during a television interview.

He said Lebanon's political and economic crisis could only be resolved via a settlement with Hezbollah, even though it had been exacerbated since the October Revolution in 2019, leading to public financial bankruptcy and economic collapse.

Read more: How a central bank's failings led to Lebanon's financial collapse

Alloush's statement reflected a combination of rationality and a sense of desperation. It showed that even Lebanese opposition figures shrank from demanding a local or international investigation into the explosion.

The suggestion may have been politically rational. Yet it was tinged with desperation, seeking only a temporary solution to Lebanon's deep and long-term crisis.

Rubble removed by community spirit

Moving on from trauma by forgetting it is part of human nature. The Lebanese people have embraced it since the major effort to remove the rubble from their devastated city, a process led by young people.

The scenes of young men and women diligently wielding shovels and brooms, congregating in the streets of Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael to clear the aftermath of the blast, evoked a sense of hope in the ruins.

But one young activist, who had been part of the October Revolution in 2019, was taken aback by the exuberant enthusiasm of those involved in the debris removal. She saw the efforts as an attempt to erase evidence of the crime, helping the politicians and war criminals in Lebanon to evade responsibility.

Her suggestion was to preserve the current state of Beirut, immersed in blood, bodies, debris, and rubble until the truth behind the explosion was discovered.

The Lebanese people have been quick to move on before. After their civil wars, they embraced a period of reconstruction and rebuilding under Hariri's leadership from 1990 to 2005.

The efforts of the bulldozers to clear debris and rubble in Beirut seemed to symbolise a resolute declaration, signalling that no voice would overshadow the sound of progress, effectively closing the chapter of wars.

In the aftermath of the explosion, the neighbourhoods of Gemmayzeh, Mar Mikhael, Ashrafieh, and Karantina – predominantly Christian areas near the port –  witnessed a robust spirit of community and solidarity that lasted for three years and was complemented by international initiatives.

These communities engaged in reconstruction and revitalisation efforts in response to the devastation of the explosion, which resulted in a high number of casualties and significant emigration from these neighbourhoods to other countries.

Interestingly, those who experienced Lebanon's civil wars may recall a similar spirit of community that emerged in these areas and among the younger generation between 1972 and 1975.

During that time, the youth was fervently dedicated to taking up arms under the leadership of Bashir Gemayel to safeguard their areas. This kind of community spirit was the same as that seen after the blast. A new generation was showing the same determination to rebuild lives and restore ruins.

Downtown Beirut did not experience debris removal campaigns, and little by way of development or improvement since the assassination of Hariri — a politician associated with its regeneration after the civil wars.

But after the port blast, the neglect of Downtown Beirut probably relates to its management by an indifferent investment company, Solidere, which was responsible for its reconstruction and administration after the wars.

Unlike the grassroots initiatives elsewhere in Beirut, real estate development and investment companies are primarily motivated by investment plans and economic expectations, rather than the spirit of community, willpower, or emotions.

In the three challenging years since the blast, the Lebanese people appear to have forgotten or dismissed any notion of an investigation into it. Any attempts to find out what happened evoke only mocking and sarcastic remarks.

This shows the perceived ineffectiveness and limitations of the Lebanese judiciary, either out of fear of the authorities in the disintegrating state or out of compliance with the interests of the political elite.

Perhaps the response would have been different if the explosion had hit areas with fiercely loyal and militant communities. Would they have settled for anything less than seeking revenge against other groups?

Macron, Hariri, and Mikati

The impact of the Beirut explosion reverberated globally, gaining extensive coverage in the international media.

The Lebanese protesters, who had been demonstrating since 17 October, grew despondent about the chances of change in the deeply corrupt and politically challenged government.

The catastrophic explosion intensified their shock and anger, leading them to seek aid and potential solutions from external, regional, and international initiatives. However, due to the loss of confidence in the Lebanese government, international assistance was conditional on going via international organisations and civil society groups in Lebanon.

Two days after the explosion, on 6 August  France's President Emmanuel Macron visited Beirut and inspected the port and severely affected neighbourhoods.

During his visit, he encountered an angry crowd expressing their frustration with the corrupt and destructive political class in their country. Some even implored him to consider reintroducing the French mandate over Lebanon to rescue the country.

In response, Macron called for a change in the Lebanese system and criticised the political class at a press conference in Beirut. Furthermore, during an international conference he organised to aid Lebanon, the international community pledged urgent assistance worth $300mn.

Read more: Macron's siding with Hezbollah hurts France's allies

On 8 August, thousands of Lebanese people took to the streets to protest against what they referred to as the ruling Lebanese elite.

During these demonstrations, security forces confronted the protesters with excessive force. Following the protests, some ministers resigned from the government, and on 10 August, the head of the government, Hassan Diab, announced his resignation.

Saad Hariri was assigned the responsibility of forming a new government on 22 October. However, disputes with President Michel Aoun hindered the process, leading Hariri to suspend the commission after 9 months on 15 July 2021.

During this period, Hariri and Aoun made a series of accusations against each other, adding to the impasse. Subsequently, on 26 July, Najib Mikati was appointed to form a government. It took him 13 months, but on 10 September 2022, he did so.

The toppling of Bitar

There were official probes into the explosion. Fadi Sawan was initially assigned to the case as an investigative judge.

In December 2020 he accused the former prime minister, Hassan Diab, and three of his ministers of negligence and dereliction in administrative procedures concerning the storage of ammonium nitrate at the port warehouses.

But in February,  Sawan was removed from the investigation, and Judge Tarek Bitar was appointed as his successor.

In July, Bitar announced his intention to prosecute Diab, former ministers, security officials, and military personnel. In September, he issued an arrest warrant for Ghazi Zaiter, the former minister of public works and transportation, who is affiliated with the Amal movement and a close government ally of Nabih Berri, the speaker of Parliament.

In October, Hezbollah's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah accused Bitar of bias and politicising the investigation. It was similar to the attacks made on the International Tribunal in the Hariri assassination, which Nasrallah also strongly opposed. Bitar faced such criticism even before issuing arrest warrants.

Hezbollah and the Amal movement were rife with the rumour that Bitar was conspiring to falsely accuse Hezbollah of collaborating with the Syrian regime to bring a ship loaded with ammonium nitrate to the Port of Beirut for storage.

The rumours suggested that the ammonium nitrate would later be used by the Syrian regime in filling explosive barrels and using them against the Syrian people during their rebellion. These rumours became the dominant narrative among the Lebanese public and were widely reported in various Arab and international media outlets before Bitar was criticised openly.

Demonstrations and then violence

The governing groups organised demonstrations calling for Bitar's removal, starting from the neighbourhoods of southern Beirut and proceeding to the Tayouneh roundabout in October.

A march was planned towards the Palace of Justice and the National Museum. In the days leading up to the demonstration, Beirut was filled with an atmosphere of anticipation, caution, and fear.

On the afternoon of 14 October, thousands gathered for the march. Tensions quickly escalated, and some protesters moved into the neighbouring Christian neighbourhood of Ain al-Rummaneh, insulting residents and vandalising buildings.

The situation grew dire. Gunshots were fired, resulting in several casualties. After the protesters returned to the Tayouneh roundabout, armed individuals from nearby Shiite neighbourhoods arrived, firing gunshots towards Ain al-Rummaneh and Furn al-Chebbak.

The incident brought back memories of the initial stages of the civil war in 1975 and tragically led to the loss of six protestors and armed individuals, with dozens more injured.

The incident instilled fear throughout Lebanon, evoking memories of the civil war. Both Hezbollah and Amal, on one side, and the Lebanese Forces on the other, exchanged accusations over provoking the clash. Arrests were made, but not of members of Hezbollah and the Amal movement.

The incident was brushed aside as if it had never happened. But the objective of removing Judge Tarek Bitar was achieved, after political manoeuvres in Lebanon.

After Bitar mentioned Ghassan Oueidat, the public prosecutor, on the list of accused individuals, Oueidat referred him to the Judicial Inspection Authority, charging him with rebellion against the judiciary and abuse of power.

After that, the Lebanese Public Prosecutor's Office officially confirmed the suspension of the investigation into the Port of Beirut explosion.

A city of ammonium and assassinations

On the third anniversary of the explosion, the ancient walls of the inner neighbourhoods that were affected continue to feature inscriptions left behind, most likely by young people leaving the devastation behind.  

Here are some of those phrases:

 "Our lives should not have ended like this": Our fate should not have  been this miserable and tragic."

"We now belong to loss."

"How can we heal after what happened?"

"You are not alone"

"How long will we be survivors?"

 "How long can we survive the massacre?"

 "The words have failed us."

"It is reality time"

"I'm not leaving: I will not leave or migrate."

On the door of a wrecked car, this phrase was written: "I am like this too"

And one word referencing the cause of the explosion: "Ammonium"

These writings were left behind on neglected and abandoned walls. Like their writers, these words are transient in the chronicles of Beirut and Lebanon, etched in of sudden awakening, conveying a sense of disconnection.

The solitary word ammonium appears like an inscription on a gravestone to an unknown number of people. It symbolises solidarity with the loss of those who survived the blast in Beirut, which left a permanent mark in their hearts.

To those walking on a desolate night, telling the dead and departed, "You are not alone. We are here, in the land of ruins, where words have failed us."