Four years after the Beirut port blast, many decry stalled justice as regional tensions spike

BEIRUT (AP) — Four years ago, Helen Ata got a call from someone she didn't know telling her that a massive explosion at the Beirut port had caused her building to collapse. Her brothers were trapped under the rubble.

One of them, Issam, survived, with a permanent disability in his right leg. Her twin brother Abdo, whom she calls her “other half,” died.

“We will never feel safe again,” she told The Associated Press, sitting next to a portrait of Abdo.

The port blast anniversary Sunday comes as the region braces for retaliation after an Israeli strike killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut and an explosion in Tehran, widely blamed on Israel, killed top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. For many, the fears of a new escalation come as wounds of the port explosion four years ago remain raw.