BEIRUT: Three and a half years after hundreds of tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate ignited at the Beirut port, setting off one of the world’s biggest non-nuclear explosions, Lebanese and French officials put forward a plan for reconstruction and reorganization of the port Wednesday.
The Aug. 4, 2020, explosion at Beirut’s port killed more than 200 people, injured and displaced thousands and devastated entire neighborhoods of the city.
Since then, an investigation into the causes of the blast has ground to a halt, and reconstruction of the damaged areas has largely been carried out piecemeal with private funding as international funds promised for rebuilding were largely contingent on political reforms that never materialized.
A number of proposals that have been floated for reconstruction and redevelopment of the still-functioning port have floundered, including an ambitious plan suggested in 2021 by a group of German companies to redevelop the port alongside new commercial and residential developments.
In 2022, French shipping giant CMA CGM Group won a 10-year contract to run the container terminal at the port.
The French government funded the development of the plan presented Wednesday by two French engineering firms, Artelia and Egis. It will focus on rebuilding quays damaged in the explosion, reorganizing the port’s layout to streamline traffic, and shifting the facility to solar power. A French public agency, Expertise France, conducted an assessment with recommendations for improving security at the port.
Lebanon will need to come up with an estimated $60- $80 million to complete the reconstruction. It plans on using the port’s revenues which have been on the rise — after a slump amid the COVID-19 pandemic and Lebanon’s descent into an unprecedented economic crisis — reaching $150 million in 2023, the port’s Director General Omar Itani said at a press conference Wednesday.
The Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and French Ambassador to Lebanon also were also in attendance, along with representatives of the French companies.
Mikati told reporters that Lebanon and France have “strong historical relations that we are proud of,” referring to ties that go back to when the small Arab nation was a French protectorate after World War I until independence in 1943.
“We consider France’s support for Lebanon to be particularly important because it represents the heart of the international community,” he said.
Magro said rebuilding the Beirut port is one of France’s “priorities in our support for Lebanon.” He added: “The Lebanese economy indeed needs a reconstructed, modernized and secure port of Beirut.”
However, the plan presented Wednesday did not address the fate of the port’s massive grain silos, which had absorbed much of the shock of the explosion, effectively shielding the western part of Beirut from the blast.
The Lebanese government at one point planned to demolish the damaged silos but decided against it after families of the blast’s victims and survivors protested, demanding their preservation as a memorial and in case they might contain evidence useful for the judicial probe.
A large portion of the silos collapsed in 2022, while the remaining section has been left in place.
Lebanese, French officials float a plan to rebuild Beirut port nearly 4 years after huge explosion
https://arab.news/gm6ev
Lebanese, French officials float a plan to rebuild Beirut port nearly 4 years after huge explosion
- The French government funded the development of the plan presented Wednesday by two French engineering firms, Artelia and Egis
- Lebanon will need to come up with an estimated $60- $80 million to complete the reconstruction
Lebanon’s south could become US-backed economic zone, according to local paper Nidaa Al-Watan
- Lebanese daily quotes sources as saying the US plan casts southern Lebanon as a key gateway for broader economic transformation
- White House fails to respond to Arab News’ request for comment
LONDON: Lebanese daily Nidaa Al-Watan has reported that the office of Jared Kushner, son-in-law and senior adviser to US President Donald Trump, has prepared detailed maps for a so‑called “Trump Economic Zone” in southern Lebanon.
According to columnist Tarek Abou Zeinab, the Kushner plan has been formally submitted to the White House for consideration.
Citing unnamed sources, the column said that the idea is no longer just a “whispered” concept among political circles but has entered what it described as “concrete border‑related discussions aimed at fast‑tracking the plan onto the US administration’s Middle East implementation agenda.”
Arab News asked the US Embassy in Beirut and the US State Department for comment, but was directed to the White House for any official response. The White House was subsequently contacted but has not responded.
Lebanon has been mired in prolonged political paralysis. Large parts of the south remain under Hezbollah’s influence, while Israel illegally occupies at least five outposts along the border that are within Lebanese sovereign land.
According to Nidaa Al‑Watan’s sources, the US concept frames southern Lebanon as a key gateway for a wider economic transformation, tying large‑scale investment and infrastructure projects to security arrangements on the ground.
The reported plan would seek to attract international capital, establish factories and logistics hubs, upgrade infrastructure, and build a port connected to global shipping routes.
Its aim, according to the column, would be to open new export channels through a free‑zone model and lure major energy companies by linking southern Lebanon to wider schemes such as the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor.
Supporters of the plan argue it could trigger large Arab and international investments, raise living standards and create long‑term jobs, thereby lowering the risk of renewed conflict.
However, Lebanese political and media sources quoted by the daily have warned that the proposal follows a new “hegemonic” approach and carries major political implications that cannot be ignored.
The critics say the reported US vision goes beyond development to include the establishment of Jewish settlements in parts of southern Lebanon, justified on religious and security grounds to protect northern Israel.
One source expressed concern that such moves would create a geographic and symbolic link between Israel and southern Lebanon, deepening fears over sovereignty and the region’s future political trajectory.
The paper said Kushner is focussed on areas stretching from Mount Hermon to Shebaa and Naqoura in the far south at a time when Israel has been pressing for a buffer zone along the border, citing security concerns since the end of major clashes with Hezbollah in November 2024.
The proposed zone would cover more than 27 southern towns, raising questions over Lebanese sovereignty.
In parallel, the Lebanese army has been tasked with bringing all weapons under state control and asserting government authority in areas long dominated by Hezbollah, as part of a broader disarmament and security plan.
Despite a ceasefire, Israel has continued to carry out attacks inside Lebanese territory and maintains control over parts of the south, saying the measures are necessary for security.
Lebanese and Israeli delegations held talks in Naqoura earlier in December to shore up the ceasefire and discuss reconstruction in the south.
