Within seconds of the explosion, it was clear that the size and scale of the blast in Beirut's port last year was unlike anything Lebanon, which endured a 15 year civil war ending in 1990, had seen before.
The blast happened when a large shipment of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive chemical used in bombs and fertiliser which was being stored in the port, exploded. The magnitude of the economic depression in Lebanon risks systemic failures which could have severe regional and international repercussions.
With immunity from questioning for senior officials, families have come to believe there will never be accountability for what happened. Anger and frustration at politicians are not unusual in Lebanon and go far beyond those directly affected by the port disaster last year. The port blast, and the fallout which has come from it, has to be seen in the wider context of the huge problems Lebanon faces.
In June of this year the United Nations Deputy Special Co-Ordinator for Lebanon, Najat Rochdi, told a briefing in Geneva that between April 2019 and April 2021, the Consumer Price Index in Lebanon "has increased by more than 208%" and that the price of food and beverages had increased by a staggering 670%.
mitchefi But do they have the Covid vaccine..I mean it won’t be starvation or thirst that will get them it’s the Covid
mitchefi Interesting article but there is no mention of the harm done to Lebanon by US political interference or the disastrous economic impact on Lebanon caused by US sanctions on Syria heretofore Lebanon’s largest trading partner.