The families of victims of the Beirut port blast gathered Thursday morning in front of the courthouse in Beirut to demand the investigation into the case continue. Attempts have been paralyzed for weeks due to political interference.

Here’s what we know:

    • “The lack of justice has been killing us every day for a year and a half," Paul Naggear, father of Alexandra, a three-year-old girl who died in the Aug. 4, 2020, double explosion, tweeted on Wednesday evening.

    • The Beirut port explosion took the lives of more than 200 people, and left around 6,500 injured. The blast was caused by a fire that broke out in a hangar containing ammonium nitrate stored since 2014, in full view of politicians and officials.

    • Appeals were filed against Tarek Bitar by politicians he had summoned for interrogation, halting his investigation.

    • On Monday, families of victims blocked the road leading to the courthouse, demanding that Judge Tarek Bitar’s investigation be resumed.

    • The recent retirement of one of the Court of Cassation’s members caused the body to lose the quorum required to hold meetings to rule on complaints against Bitar.