The foreign ministry, the environment ministry and the economy ministry were occupied by angry demonstrators who called for the downfall of Lebanon’s ruling elite five days after a blast ripped through the Lebanese capital causing widespread destruction.
The Banking Association, which protesters blame for the country’s worsening banking crisis, was also taken over by protesters and set ablaze.
Hours after the protests first rocked Beirut, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab has vowed to hold early elections as his beleaguered government faces calls to resign.
Diab said he would introduce a law calling for early elections and said he would remain in government for two months until major parties can reach an agreement.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets as protesters hurled stones and fireworks at security forces. Parts of the central district were set ablaze and when the protesters took over the Foreign Ministry, the first in a succession of popular takeovers, they declared it the “headquarters of the revolution.”
Tens of thousands of demonstrators poured into Beirut’s Martyr’s Square on Saturday afternoon calling for “revenge” against the ruling class of politicians widely held responsible for the explosion that lay waste to large swathes of Lebanon’s capital.
The air was thick with tear gas as people filled the main protest site, with the demonstrations stretching to surrounding neighborhoods and the city’s main motorway, in the biggest protests since a nationwide uprising last October.
The US embassy in Beirut voiced support for peaceful protesters. “The Lebanese people have suffered too much and deserve to have leaders who listen to them and change course to respond to popular demands for transparency and accountability,” the embassy tweeted on Saturday night. “We support them in their right to peaceful protest, and encourage all involved to refrain from violence.”
One member of the Lebanese security forces has died. More than 200 people have been injured in the protests, including 63 who were transferred to hospitals, according to the Lebanese Red Cross. Several journalists are among the injured.
The security forces’ response did not appear to disperse many of the angry protesters. One woman who fell over as she stumbled over people running in her direction, said: “They bombed our city. I will go back in.” Her face soaked with tears, she picked up her belongings, as well as some stones, and headed back into the crowd.
“You survive an explosion in Beirut only to be teargassed,” said one man in his 20s as he held an onion to his mouth to mitigate the effects of the gas.
Parts of the demonstrations remained peaceful, while other parts were predominantly filled with angry protesters who faced off with security forces.
“We are in trouble here because on one hand, protesters are burning buildings and if I send the fire trucks to put the fire out, I am afraid protesters might attack and hurt the police and fire fighters,” Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud told CNN. “On the other, however, I cannot just not send the police or the fighter fighters.”
Abboud was heckled and chased out of a damaged neighborhood by protesters earlier in the day.
