After nearly 3½ weeks of nationwide protests demanding an end to corruption, a new technocratic government and an improved socioeconomic situation in Lebanon, President Michel Aoun told the nation in a televised address Nov. 12 that Lebanon will descend into a "catastrophe" if protesters do not return home and allow Lebanon to work normally again.
Protesters, however, took to the country’s streets soon afterward, blocking roads with burning tires in various parts of Lebanon and marched toward the president’s Baabda Palace on Nov. 13. Security forces blocked demonstrators from reaching their destination, and closed the highway leading to the president’s residence.