Lebanon: Judge Orders Seizure of MPs' Property over Port Blast

This photo shows a general view of the scene of the explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. (AP)
This photo shows a general view of the scene of the explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. (AP)
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Lebanon: Judge Orders Seizure of MPs' Property over Port Blast

This photo shows a general view of the scene of the explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. (AP)
This photo shows a general view of the scene of the explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. (AP)

A Lebanese judge on Wednesday ordered the temporary seizure of the property of two deputies in the case of the deadly explosion which destroyed Beirut port two years ago, a judicial source said.

"Judge Najah Itani has issued a temporary seizure order worth 100 billion Lebanese pounds on the property of MPs Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeaiter," the source told AFP.

The decision was issued in the context of a complaint filed by the Beirut Bar Association to question the two for having "used their rights... in an arbitrary manner by filing complaints intended to hinder the investigation", the source added.

Compensation of 100 billion Lebanese pounds, some $66 million at the central bank exchange rate though far less at black market rates, is being sought.

Lebanon's currency has lost around 90 percent of its value on the black market.

Both Khalil and Zeaiter are former ministers whom the judge investigating the blast had summoned for interrogation.

On Thursday, crisis-hit Lebanon marked two years since the massive port explosion ripped through Beirut.

The dockside blast of haphazardly stored ammonium nitrate, one of history's biggest non-nuclear explosions, killed more than 200 people, wounded thousands and damaged vast areas of the capital.

After the tragedy, the bar launched legal proceedings against the state on behalf of nearly 1,400 families of victims.

However, an investigation into the cause has been stalled amid political interference and no state official has yet been held accountable.

Khalil and Zeaiter, of parliament speaker Nabih Berri's Amal party, filed around 20 complaints against Judge Tarek Bitar, forcing the investigation to be repeatedly suspended.

Politicians on all sides have refused to be questioned, and Bitar's investigation has been paused since December.

On Thursday's second anniversary of the blast, relatives of victims demanded an international inquiry.

Bitar's predecessor, Fadi Sawan, was also forced to suspend his probe, before he was finally removed in a move widely condemned as political interference.



Hamas Says Delegation Leaving Doha after Gaza Ceasefire Talks Breakdown

Palestinians gather at the site of an overnight Israeli air strike on a house, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 28, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
Palestinians gather at the site of an overnight Israeli air strike on a house, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 28, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
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Hamas Says Delegation Leaving Doha after Gaza Ceasefire Talks Breakdown

Palestinians gather at the site of an overnight Israeli air strike on a house, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 28, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
Palestinians gather at the site of an overnight Israeli air strike on a house, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 28, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo

Hamas's negotiating team left the Qatari capital Doha for Türkiye on Tuesday to discuss the "latest developments" in the stalled Gaza ceasefire talks, a Hamas official told AFP.

"A high-level leadership delegation from Hamas, headed by Mohammed Darwish, president of the movement's leadership council, and including the negotiation team and its head, Khalil al-Hayya, is departing Doha heading to Istanbul", the source told AFP.

"The delegation will hold several meetings with Turkish officials regarding the latest developments in the ceasefire negotiations, which stalled last week", the source added.

For over two weeks, mediators in Qatar had been shuttling between Israeli and Hamas delegations in a bid to secure a breakthrough in indirect talks for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza, nearly two years into the war.

The United States joined Israel last week in pulling its negotiators from the negotiations, with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff blaming the Palestinian militant group for the failure to reach a deal and saying Washington would "consider alternative options".

Hamas politburo member Bassem Naim told AFP on Friday that the latest discussions focused on details of an Israeli military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Israel has resisted international calls to agree a ceasefire in Gaza, with UN-backed experts warning on Tuesday that the Palestinian territory was slipping into famine.

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar called the ceasefire demands "a distorted campaign of international pressure against Israel" that would leave Hamas in power in Gaza.

"It ain't gonna happen, no matter how much pressure is put on Israel", he said at a press conference Tuesday.