2019 protests
Large-scale anti-government demonstrations ignited in the country from 17 October. Initially triggered in response to a rise in gas and tobacco prices as well as a new tax on messaging applications, the demonstrations quickly turned into a revolution against the stagnation of the economy, cabinet failure, unemployment, Lebanon's sectarian and hereditary political system, corruption and the government's inability to provide essential services such as water, electricity and sanitation, involving hundreds of thousands of people from every region and sect of the country. President Michel Aoun addressed the population on 24 October, stating his willingness to hold a dialogue with the protesters and find the best solution forward. He supported Hariri's reforms but did confirm a need to "review the current government" within the "state institutions", and not through protesting. Hariri supported this review through Lebanon's "constitutional mechanisms", but the protesters rejected any calls for dialogue until the government has resigned.
Aoun gave a live interview at 8:30PM on 12 November, during which he rejected calls for a fully technocratic government, warned against a run on the bank further damaging the economic sector, and called for an immediate end to the protests to prevent a "catastrophe". Aoun accused protesters of "stabbing the nation with a dagger" and accused protesters that blocked roads of "violating international law". Aoun also stated that "anyone who cannot find faith in the current Lebanese government can leave Lebanon and live somewhere else". Aoun's interview proved exceedingly unpopular with the protest movement, which began blocking dozens of arterial roads in Beirut and across Lebanon. Alaa Abou Fakhr, a Lebanese national, was shot and killed in Khalde at the ensuing protests.
Protesters began appearing in the early morning of 13 November near the heavily fortified Baabda Presidential Palace to express dissatisfaction with President Aoun's speech a few hours earlier and picked up in pace as the day progressed.
Diab was appointed prime minister by President Michel Aoun following the resignation of Saad Hariri following the 2019–20 Lebanese protests, that started in October 2019. A new Lebanese cabinet led by Prime Minister Hassan Diab was formed in Lebanon on 21 January 2020, after agreement was reached by the heads of the involved political parties after nearly three months. The already delegitimized government assigned Diab and his new cabinet, despite ongoing public outrage against the new cabinet and citizen requests for a competent, independent, and technocratic government. The marketing campaign by the authoritative powers around the new cabinet were mired by supposed untruths such as Diab claiming to have met reformist representatives of the revolution but turned out to be regime supporters or the regime using the term "techno-political" to describe the new cabinet in order to justify the majority partisan appointments.
On 10 August 2020, the government resigned following public anger over the 2020 Beirut explosion on 4 August but continued to govern as a caretaker government. Aoun appointed Moustapha Adib as prime minister designate on 31 August to succeed Diab. The latter renounced to form a government on 26 September 2020, because of the dissensions between political parties concerning the attribution of the ministries. Saad Hariri later announced on October that he was "definitely a candidate" for the formation of a new government. He was again appointed President of the Council of Ministers after binding parliamentary consultations led by Michel Aoun. On 6 March 2021, while Saad Hariri has still not managed to form a government, Diab denounces the situation of political and economic crisis and threatens to stop expediting current affairs by leaving office immediately.
On 22 March, and after several meetings between Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and President Aoun, Hariri said that the demands of the President were "unacceptable", therefore Lebanon witnessed a failure to form a new government which will worsen the crisis. According to Hariri, President Aoun presented him with a line-up granting his team a third of all cabinet seats, which would enable them to have veto power over decision making in the Lebanese government. Hariri was said to have been criticized by Aoun for disclosing his proposed government with the media, because the distribution of the ministries was unjust which was his reason for not agreeing to the line-up, according to Al Jazeera. After the meeting which only lasted for just 35 minutes, another date for a new meeting between Hariri and Aoun could not be confirmed.
In conflict with Aoun concerning the distribution of ministerial posts, Hariri gave up on a government formation on 15 July 2021.
On 4 August 2020, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the Port of Beirut in the capital city of Lebanon exploded, causing at least 218 deaths, 7,000 injuries, and US$15 billion in property damage, as well as leaving an estimated 300,000 people homeless. A cargo of 2,750 tonnes of the substance (equivalent to around 1.1 kilotons of TNT) had been stored in a warehouse without proper safety measures for the previous six years after having been confiscated by the Lebanese authorities from the abandoned ship MV Rhosus. The explosion was preceded by a fire in the same warehouse. As of 2026, the exact cause of the explosion is still under investigation. Aoun expressed intention that the government would make up to 100 billion pounds (US$66 million) in aid available to support recovery operations. On 10 August 2020, Hassan Diab and his cabinet resigned in response to protests following the explosion. After accepting their resignation, Aoun asked the government to stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new cabinet could be formed. Aoun denied allegations of involvement; however, he did admit to being aware of the ammonium nitrate.
