This archive report was first published on 29 October 2019.
On October 29, 2019, Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his resignation, bowing to nearly two weeks of unprecedented nationwide protests.
Hariri's televised address was met with cheers from crowds of protesters who had remained mobilized since October 17, crippling the country to press their demands.
"It has become necessary for us to make a great shock to fix the crisis. I am going to the Baabda Palace to give my resignation," Hariri said, who had already resigned twice in the past from that same job.
His decision came in response to the will of many Lebanese who took to the streets to demand change, protests he called "historic".
Hariri's move came after days of unfruitful efforts to reshuffle posts among his coalition partners and as tension mounted on the ground between protesters and security forces.
A nationwide cross-sectarian protest movement had gripped Lebanon for almost two weeks, calling for an overhaul of a political class viewed as incompetent and corrupt.
Despite the government's adoption of an emergency economic rescue plan last week, banks and schools remained closed, and main arteries in Beirut were blocked by protesters.
However, on Tuesday, dozens of rioters descended on a rally site near the government headquarters, attacking protesters, torching tents, and tearing down banners calling for "revolution".
Police intervened to contain the violence, sparking scattered scuffles, and demonstrators caught in the attack tried to jump over the rails of the highway while others ducked behind concrete blocks.
