Beirut Port Explosion and Political Violence

On 4 August 2020, a fire at the Beirut Port detonated a storage of ammonium nitrate that had been confiscated in 2014 and since been stored at the port without any precautions. The explosion killed over 200 individuals, destroyed or damaged large parts of Beirut, caused a resurgence in the protest movement in Lebanon, and led to the resignation of the government. There have been on-going tensions around Port Explosion. One of which is the series of assassinations in Lebanon that have been potentially linked to the explosion: Mounir Abou Rjeily, head of the anti-smuggling unit in the Higher Customs Council, and Joseph Bejjani, a photographer, were both assassinated in December 2020, while Lokman Slim, a political commentator, was assassinated in February 2021. Furthermore, an investigation was opened into the Port Explosion under Judge Fadi Sawan, yet he was removed from the investigation in February 2021 upon request from some of the ministers he issued charges against, prompting protests. Judge Tarek Bitar was then appointed to lead the investigation. In October 2021, a protest in Beirut organized by Hezbollah and its allies against Bitar, accusing him of being partisan, devolved into violence in the Beirut neighborhood of Tayyoune, a former frontline during the Civil War.