The massive blast in Beirut’s port on Tuesday evening appears to have been caused by a deadly combination of corruption, incompetence, negligence and 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate. At this stage, the explosion has no direct connection to Israel, the Hezbollah terror group or the current round of tensions between them, but it has the potential to enormously impact all three.
The blast claimed the lives of over 100 people, injured thousands more to varying degrees, and battered the homes of at least 300,000 people in the city. In the hours following the explosions, likened by residents of the Lebanese capital to an “atomic bomb,” many of the basic questions surrounding them remain unanswered, including how exactly the ammonium nitrate was detonated and why such a dangerous quantity was being stored there for so long.
The chemical compound — used in fertilizers, as well as explosives — had been impounded at the port in 2014 after being confiscated from a Russian-owned cargo ship called the Rhosus, which experienced technical difficulties at the Beirut Port.
Although Lebanese officials knew of the dangers associated with the material, it remained in storage there as the owners of the Rhosus battled with the state of Lebanon in court over ownership of the volatile cargo.
Ammonium nitrate is not ordinarily flammable, but can detonate if exposed to intense heat. Initial reports from Lebanon indicate that a fire that caused a smaller explosion in a warehouse containing fireworks may have provided the burst of heat needed to set off the ammonium nitrate. Others have speculated that Hezbollah weapons caches may have played a role.
The investigation into the cause of the blasts has only just begun. However, early on one important fact was established: Israel had nothing to do with them.
Both Israeli officials and sources close to the Hezbollah terror group swiftly dismissed the notion that the Jewish state had a role in the blasts, despite persistent, wholly unsubstantiated rumors that fighter jets were seen in the area before the explosions and that a missile was spotted striking the port. READ MORE