Hundreds of people gathered near Beirut's port on Tuesday to mark six years since one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, as victims' families renewed their demands for truth and accountability in a case that has been mired in political obstruction since the disaster occurred.

On 4 August 2020, hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate — a chemical compound widely used as fertiliser — that had been stored unsafely at Beirut's port detonated, killing more than 200 people and devastating large swaths of the Lebanese capital. Despite the scale of the catastrophe, the investigation into who bore responsibility was repeatedly stalled as judicial officials and ministers filed successive legal challenges against the judges overseeing the inquiry, effectively paralyzing proceedings for years.

A potential turning point came in early 2025, when President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam took office and pledged to hold those responsible to account. Shortly afterward, lead investigator Judge Tarek Bitar resumed the probe and submitted a report to the public prosecutor's office in late March 2026. A senior Lebanese judicial official familiar with the investigation told Reuters that the report contained charges against 70 individuals for various crimes related to the explosion. Once the public prosecutor responds, Bitar is expected to prepare a formal indictment naming the accused, which would formally open trial proceedings.

For families of the victims, however, renewed promises have done little to ease years of grief and frustration. "In normal countries, this would already be over — we would be in another phase of our lives and would have the right to grieve," said Paul Naggear, whose three-year-old daughter Alexandra, known as Lexou, died in the blast. "When there is no justice, it means Lexou's life has no value." At Tuesday's memorial, organisers read out the names of the dead while survivors shared their testimonies. Some attendees said they hoped those responsible would be serving prison sentences by the seventh anniversary; others remained deeply sceptical. Reine Abbas, who has attended the annual march every year, noted that the crowd has grown smaller each time. "If I don't see at least one person in prison, there will be no trust," she said.

Lebanon's Justice Minister Adel Nassar laid a wreath at a port memorial and called on the state and judiciary to allow the process to reach its conclusion. "We cannot say that a judiciary exists in Lebanon if we remain silent before a tragedy as great as the Beirut port explosion," he said. Whether the renewed momentum in the investigation will finally deliver the accountability that families have sought for six years remains, for many, an open and painfully unresolved question.