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Lebanese president Joseph Aoun on Monday vowed justice and accountability five years after a catastrophic explosion at Beirut’s port, as the investigating judge finished questioning defendants, a judicial official said.

Nobody has been held accountable for the August 4, 2020 blast — one of the world’s largest non-nuclear explosions, which devastated swathes of the Lebanese capital, killing more than 220 people and injuring over 6,500.

Authorities have said the explosion was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertiliser had been stored haphazardly for years after arriving by ship, despite repeated warnings to senior officials.

Judge Tarek Bitar resumed his investigation this year as Lebanon’s balance of power shifted following a war between Israel and Hezbollah that weakened the Iran-backed militant group, which had spearheaded a campaign for Bitar’s resignation.

Aoun said the Lebanese state ‘is committed to uncovering the whole truth, no matter the obstacles or how high the positions’ involved.

‘The law applies to all, without exception,’ Aoun said in a statement.

Monday has been declared a day of national mourning, and rallies demanding justice are planned later in the day, converging on the port.

‘The blood of your loved ones will not be in vain,’ the president told victims’ families, adding: ‘Justice is coming, accountability is coming.’

After resuming work following a more than two-year impasse, Bitar has finished questioning defendants and suspects, a judicial official said.

Those questioned include former prime minister Hassan Diab, as well as military and security officials, while several former ministers did not appear for questioning, the official said.

Bitar is waiting for some procedures to be completed, including receiving responses from several Arab and European countries following a request for ‘information on specific incidents’, the official added, without elaborating.

The judge will then finalise the investigation and refer the file to the public prosecution for its opinion before he issues an indictment, the official said.

President Aoun said that ‘we are working with all available means to ensure the investigations are completed with transparency and integrity’.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, a former International Court of Justice judge, said on Sunday that knowing the truth and ensuring accountability were national issues, decrying decades of official impunity.

Aoun and Salam took office earlier this year, in the wake of the Israel-Hezbollah war, with both leaders pledging to uphold judicial independence.

Officials named in the investigation had filed a flurry of lawsuits seeking to prevent it from going forward.

Nobody is currently in custody over the case.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in a joint statement on Monday that ‘despite the resumption of the investigation, the road to justice remains littered with political and legal challenges’.

They urged authorities to ensure a comprehensive, unobstructed investigation that establishes ‘the facts and circumstances surrounding the explosion, encompassing the full chain of responsibility’, whether domestic or international.

Mariana Fodoulian from the association of victims’ families said that ‘for five years, officials have been trying to evade accountability, always thinking they are above the law.’

‘We’re not asking for anything more than the truth,’ she said.

‘We won’t stop until we get comprehensive justice.’

On Sunday, culture minister Ghassan Salame said the port’s gutted and partially collapsed wheat silos would be included on a list of historic buildings.

Victims’ families have long demanded their preservation as a memorial of the catastrophe.

‘The silos are the only witness to what happened on August 4,’ said Fodoulian.

United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, on Monday urged authorities to ‘take all necessary action to expedite progress in judicial proceedings related to the explosion’.

The US, British and French embassies in Lebanon urged justice and accountability in statements on X.

The European Union on Sunday welcomed recent steps ‘that have enabled progress in the investigation’, noting that ‘ending impunity is essential for Lebanon’s recovery.’