Lebanese prime minister resigns, bowing to one of the central demands of anti-government protests. The news came shortly after baton-wielding Hezbollah supporters rampaged through the main protest camp in Beirut.
Hezbollah supporters burn tents in the protest camp set up by anti-government protesters near the government palace, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. The violence came shortly after dozen others, also wielding sticks, attacked a roadblock on a main Beirut thoroughfare set up by the protesters.
The Hezbollah rampage marked a violent turning point in Lebanon’s protests, which have called for the resignation of the government and the overthrow of the political class that has dominated the country since the 1975-1990 civil war. The government is dominated by factions allied with Hezbollah, the most powerful armed group in the country.
A proposed tax on the WhatsApp messenger service ignited protests Oct. 17, sending hundreds of thousands of people into the streets in the largest demonstrations in more than a decade. The protests soon widened into calls for the overthrow of the political elites who have ruled the country since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The men initially presented themselves as disgruntled residents frustrated by the country’s paralysis, but they later could be heard chanting, “At your service, Hussein,” a Shiite religious slogan, and “God, Nasrallah, and the whole Dahiyeh,” referring to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the group’s stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
It was unclear how many people were wounded. Fights broke out in places and security forces could be seen beating some people with batons. Hezbollah was the only armed group in Lebanon to maintain its weapons after the civil war, saying they were needed to defend the country from Israel, which occupied parts of southern Lebanon from 1982 until 2000. Hezbollah later fought Israel to a stalemate during a ferocious monthlong war in 2006.Groups of protesters eventually returned to the main squares and began repairing their tents, while others went back to blocking the roads.
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