15 billion dollars are estimates of losses in the Beirut bombing ... the judiciary is preparing to investigate ministers and the US threatens sanctions against Hezbollah's allies.

On Friday, the Lebanese judiciary will begin investigating a number of former and current ministers for whom the port of Beirut fell within their responsibilities, while Washington is preparing to impose sanctions on Hezbollah's allies in Lebanon, due to the port explosion. Meanwhile, President Michel Aoun expected his country's losses to reach $ 15 billion.

The discriminatory public attorney in Lebanon, Judge Ghassan Khoury, will hear the ministers who have succeeded in portfolios of jobs, money and justice in the Lebanese governments since 2014, on the issue of storing huge quantities of "ammonium nitrate" in Ward 12 of the stricken port.

A judicial source told Agence France-Presse that Khoury "will start the investigation on Friday with the former Minister of Works Ghazi Al-Aridi, and that next week he summons the former labor ministers Ghazi Zuaiter, Youssef Fenianos and Michel Najjar (the caretaker government), in addition to a number of former finance and justice ministers."

The source explained that "the questioning of ministers comes in the context of specifying responsibilities and limiting them to people who neglected or ignored the danger of keeping explosive materials in the port, including administrators, security forces, soldiers, judges and politicians."

Khoury's investigations into the Beirut Port bombing file included listening to officers and commanders of the various security services.

The explosion took place on the fourth of this month in Ward No. 12, where 2750 tons of "ammonium nitrate" had been stored for more than six years, according to the authorities. And resulted in a fire that was reported to have been caused by maintenance work.

On Wednesday, Khoury interrogated ten officers from the Lebanese Army, State Security and Customs working at the port, in addition to a number of administrators in the customs service, and decided to leave them under investigation.

About twenty people are still being held pending investigation, including the current director general of customs, Badri Daher, and the director of Beirut Port, Hassan Quraytem.

According to security and political sources, the authorities, including security services and former and current officials, were aware of the dangers of storing huge quantities of "ammonium nitrate" in the port.

In a report prepared a few months ago, the State Security Service warned that ignition of these materials could lead to a devastating explosion at the port, and in July it informed both the presidencies of the Republic and the government.

On the other hand, the Wall Street Journal said that the United States is preparing to impose sanctions on Hezbollah's allies in Lebanon.

The newspaper quoted US officials as saying that the sanctions aim to weaken Hezbollah’s influence after the Beirut port bombing.

She added that US officials see an opportunity to target Hezbollah’s partnership with its allies as part of a broader effort to contain the Iranian-backed party.

Meanwhile, President Michel Aoun said, "Initial estimates of the losses suffered by Lebanon as a result of the explosion exceed $ 15 billion.

The National News Agency quoted Aoun during a phone call with the King of Spain, Felipe VI, that his country is in need of building materials to rebuild the affected neighborhoods.

For its part, the Lebanese Army said that its units continue to remove rubble and rubble at the site of the port explosion.

The army’s statement added that its units have begun work in the most affected area adjacent to the port, after which the third phase of rubble removal operations will start in the least affected areas.

And the Ministry of Health announced that the number of victims of the explosion rose to 171 dead, about six thousand wounded, in addition to dozens of missing.