While the Lebanese parliament is discussing the approval of the 2026 budget, the Lebanese street is losing patience.
Today, clashes and riots were recorded in Riyad al-Solh Square in Beirut, with those who were supposed to be the state's protective shield—the officers and discharged soldiers—standing at the forefront this time.
The protesters are furious that their salaries have been eroded to the bone. "You can't build an army on a $300 salary," shouted one of the protesters. The discharged soldiers claim that while politicians arrange matters for themselves, they are forced to live on handouts and donations. The protesters set up protest tents and tried to physically block the arrival of parliament members to the budget discussions.
Not only soldiers in the street. For the first time, a rare union of interests is seen between army retirees, public administration officials, and renters—all feel that the 2026 budget is an "erasure" of the weak classes in Lebanon. The chairman of the workers' union warned today: "We are on the path to a social revolution that will start in every neighborhood. The government is opaque, and we will not stop escalating."