On 4 August 2020, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the port in Beirut, Lebanon exploded, causing at least 218 deaths, 7,000 injuries, and US$15 billion in property damage, as well as leaving an estimated 300,000 people homeless.

A cargo of 2,750 tonnes of the substance (equivalent to around 1.1 kilotons of TNT) had been stored in a warehouse without proper safety measures for the previous six years after having been confiscated by Lebanese authorities from the abandoned ship MV Rhosus.

[8] In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic had overwhelmed many of the country's hospitals, several of which were already short of medical supplies and unable to pay staff due to the financial crisis.

[9] The morning before the explosion, the head of the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, which served as the main COVID-19 medical facility in Lebanon, warned that it was approaching full capacity.

[13] The port included four basins, sixteen quays, twelve warehouses,[13] a large container terminal,[14] and a grain elevator with a total capacity of 120,000 tonnes that served as a strategic reserve of cereals for the country.

[15] Behnam Shahriyari is a senior official within Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), specifically associated with Unit 190, a division responsible for clandestine arms transfers and logistical operations.

Reports indicate that since 2011, the Iranian shipping company Liner Transport Kish (LTK), managed by Shahriyari and Mojtaba Mousavi Tabar, delivered significant quantities of ammonium nitrate to Hezbollah.

Between 2011 and 2014, multiple shipments were sent to Beirut, including a consignment transported aboard the MV Rhosus vessel in August 2013, carrying approximately 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate.

[16] On 27 September 2013, the Moldovan-flagged cargo ship MV Rhosus set sail from Batumi, Georgia, to Beira, Mozambique, carrying 2,750 tonnes (3,030 short tons) of ammonium nitrate.

[23] However, reporting by Der Spiegel has found that it was not Grechushkin who owned Rhosus, but rather Cypriot businessman Charalambos Manoli, who maintained a relationship with the bank used by Hezbollah in Lebanon.

[35][29] Lawyers argued for the crew's repatriation on compassionate grounds because of the danger posed by the cargo still aboard the ship, and an Urgent Matters judge in Beirut allowed them to return home.

The research was based on a structural engineering approach with numerical non-linear finite element modeling of the grain elevator facing Warehouse 12 where the explosion took place.

[81] The failure to remove the materials from the warehouse and relocate them was attributed to mismanagement of the port, corruption of the government, and inaction of the flag registry's country and ship owner.

The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (LBCI) reported that, according to attendees of a Higher Defence Council briefing, the fire was ignited by workers welding a door at a warehouse.

[148] Saint George Hospital, one of the city's largest medical facilities, was less than 1 kilometer (5⁄8 mile) from the explosion, and was so badly damaged that staff were forced to treat patients in the street.

[154][i] Some glass artifacts in the Archaeological Museum of the American University of Beirut were also destroyed, and the huge 118-year-old door which opened onto the main exhibition space was blown off its hinges.

[193] While Acting Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najm unsuccessfully demanded an international investigation into the blast,[194] she also noted that "...this case is a chance for the Lebanese judiciary to prove they can do their jobs and win back the confidence of the people".

[198][199] In September, Lebanon's state prosecution asked Interpol to detain two Russian citizens, the captain and the owner of Rhosus, as its cargo of ammonium nitrate was blamed for the explosion.

[206] On 14 October 2021, six people were killed and at least 30 injured in a gunfire exchange in Beirut during protests by members of the Shia Amal and Hezbollah outside the Justice Palace, which demanded an end to the investigations led by Judge Tarek Bitar, for they deemed him as too much centered on their political allies.

[207][208] On 21 November 2021, the BBC reported that legal groups representing victims of the blast had sent letters on three occasions to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres requesting more information from UNIFIL, but had received no acknowledgment from the UN.

As of 8 June, parliamentary immunity, as well as outstanding complaints and other procedural roadblocks initiated by two members of Parliament and former ministers (namely, Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zaiter), continued to prevent significant progress in the case.

[216][217] Volunteers removed debris while local business owners offered to repair damaged buildings for free in the absence of a state-sponsored cleanup operation.

[249] In the first week after the explosion, civilians gathered in hundreds to volunteer to clean up the debris on the streets and inside homes and businesses in Gemmayze, Achrafieh, and Karantina neighbourhoods.

According to Karl von Habsburg, founding president of Blue Shield International, the protection of cultural property in Beirut was not only about securing buildings, but also about preventing looting and water damage, taking dangerous chemical substances into account.

[263] Multiple members of the Lebanese parliament resigned in protest, including Marwan Hamadeh,[264] Paula Yacoubian,[265] all three Kataeb Party MPs,[265] Neemat Frem,[266] Michel Moawad,[266] Dima Jamali,[267] and Henri Helou.

The document was sent to the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, through his special coordinator for Lebanon, Ján Kubiš, in order to take the necessary steps to appoint an international commission of inquiry.

The Members of Parliament, Georges Okais, Imad Wakim, Eddy Abillammaa, and Fady Saad, presented a petition to this effect to the United Nations Special Coordinator in Lebanon, Najat Rochdi.

Former Israeli Member of Knesset Moshe Feiglin hailed the tragedy as a gift from God, celebrating the incident and describing it as a "spectacular firework show.

"[289] Despite years of conflict, including the 2006 Lebanon War,[290] both Israel and senior Hezbollah officials ruled out Israeli involvement in the explosion, despite claims and allegations spread via social media.

[322] In August 2021, a memorial event marking the one-year-anniversary of the explosion was held in tribute to the victims at the Port of Beirut, joined by UN officials and International Labour Organization Regional Director Ruba Jaradat.