In April 2022, Lebanon’s Cabinet approved the demolition at the Port of Beirut, the site of the 2020 explosion. The explosion was one of the largest non nuclear explosions, with an independent report by Human Rights Watch finding multiple Lebanese authorities criminally negligent under Lebanese law over handling 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored at the port since 2014.

Families of the victims of the explosion launched a campaign called Silent Witness, with the goal of preserving the silos located less than 300 feet from the core of the explosion and overcoming Lebanon’s “culture of impunity”–reflected...