Debris from Beirut Port, June 27, 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin)
Shiite cleric Ali Fadlallah and Jaafarite mufti Ahmad Qabalan, known to be close to Hezbollah, stated on Monday the need for justice in the investigation into the Beirut Port explosion, as Lebanon marked the fifth anniversary of the tragedy. They warned, one against potential foreign interference in the case, the other against its "politicization."
Hezbollah is often pointed to, particularly by its detractors and in journalistic investigations published in recent years, as being behind the ammonium nitrate cargo that caused the Aug. 4, 2020, explosion. The party rejects these allegations and considers the investigation led by investigative judge Tarek Bitar to be politicized. Bitar has not summoned any Hezbollah officials, but he has questioned several former officials or ministers belonging to or seen as close to the Hezbollah-Amal alliance, such as former ministers Youssef Fenianos (Marada) and Ghazi Zeaiter (Amal). In 2021, a protest by supporters of the two against the judge's investigation escalated into deadly gunfire as protesters passed through the Ain al-Remmaneh neighborhood, known to be close to the Lebanese Forces.
Fadlallah stressed that the memory of the Beirut Port explosion was a "national and human cause that concerns all Lebanese," calling to "avoid sectarianizing, politicizing, or using it in internal power games."
"Let everyone be committed to achieving justice and truth, away from procrastination and evasions, so that those proven to be involved are punished and so that this tragedy never happens again in this country," he added.
'Protecting Lebanon from the games of nations'
Qabalan said that "the port explosion is not just a catastrophe, but the moment when a country crucified on the cross of international and regional crises is laid bare."
"I can only raise a resounding cry for Lebanon, for justice, for the martyrs of the port, and for all those affected by this catastrophic explosion," he said in a statement.
"I especially address this cry to Liliane Shaito, a wounded woman, with all the anguish of a mother who longs to see her son Ali," he added, referring to this mother who was injured on August 4 and whose husband took away her son after the explosion. "This right is the most sacred of her rights and the most imperative duty of the official authorities responsible for guaranteeing the right to motherhood and allowing this mother to communicate with her son, even if only by videoconference," urging that this right be guaranteed for Liliane, her family, and her son Ali.
"This is a humanitarian issue," he said. Drawing a parallel between Shaito and Lebanon, he said that "Lebanon is a wounded homeland, a tormented partnership," and that "nothing is more important than protecting Lebanon from the games of nations."
The Beirut port explosions killed 235 people, injured more than 7,000, and destroyed a significant part of the Lebanese capital. Five years later, no official has yet been prosecuted, due to political interference in the investigation led by Judge Tarek Bitar.
