On Wednesday, hundreds of Lebanese , most of them retired military personnel, participated in a demonstration in downtown Beirut to protest the deteriorating living conditions, before the security forces dispersed them by firing tear gas after they tried to storm the Grand Serail campus.

This move brought to mind the unprecedented demonstrations that Lebanon witnessed in the fall of 2019, protesting the beginning of the deterioration of economic conditions and calling for the departure of the political class, which to this day is still in control without offering any solutions.

The demonstrators gathered in Riad al-Solh Square in downtown Beirut, opposite the Government Serail. Some of them raised Lebanese flags, chanting anti-authority slogans. One of the demonstrators, wearing a military uniform, carried a banner that read, "We appeal to the Arab and international community to rid us of the corrupt ruling class," signed by "retired Lebanese army."

The demonstration, which lasted a few hours, included hit-and-run operations after the security forces fired tear gas at the demonstrators in order to disperse them, after a group of them managed to remove the barbed wire and advance towards the Grand Serail, according to AFP correspondents at the scene.

A demonstrator was wounded in the head as tear gas was fired, and a member of the army was injured as a result of the demonstrators throwing stones, according to what AFP correspondents saw.

The official National Information Agency in Lebanon reported cases of fainting among the demonstrators.

She said that members of the army separated the demonstrators from the security forces, to contain tension, after tear gas was fired extensively.

Captain Amal Hammoud, 53, who retired two years ago, said on the sidelines of her participation in the demonstration, "We left the military institution in the hope that we would live in luxury and educate our children (...) but they kept our money in the banks until we became beggars."

"The people want their most basic rights and their livelihood, but they hit them with tear gas," she added.

"My salary was about four thousand dollars before the crisis, and it is equivalent to $150 today," retired Brigadier General Khaled Naous, 70, told AFP.

He added, "We feel humiliated while trying to live a decent life because we are unable to secure the necessities of our house... We have reached a stage of despair, as the banks took our retirement compensations and we had no salaries left, and for this reason we go to the streets today."

Since the summer of 2019, Lebanon has been witnessing an economic crisis that the World Bank ranked among the worst since 1850, and it is considered the worst in Lebanon's history. This coincides with an acute liquidity crisis and tight banking restrictions, with which depositors can no longer access their outstanding savings.

On Tuesday, the lira recorded a historic collapse, with the exchange rate exceeding the threshold of 140,000 against the dollar, which caused an increase in the prices of all commodities, especially fuel, commodities, and foodstuffs, which are now priced in dollars after subsidies were lifted. Several gas stations stopped selling fuel.

The exchange rate fell on Wednesday to about 110,000 against the dollar, the day after the Bank of Lebanon issued a circular to limit the collapse of the lira, which lost nearly 98 percent of its value.

Political paralysis exacerbates the situation, in light of a presidential vacuum for months, during which the country has been running a caretaker government that is unable to take necessary decisions, including reforms required by the international community and the International Monetary Fund to provide support in order to stop the bleeding.

Since the end of President Michel Aoun's term at the end of October, the Lebanese parliament has failed 11 times to elect a president due to deep political divisions.

A delegation of retired military personnel later met Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati to present their demands, the National Agency reported.

A protester who identified himself as Hatem (73 years old), a retired high school teacher, told AFP, "I receive my salary in pounds, and all those who receive their salaries in pounds have collapsed, and they can no longer provide the minimum" of their needs.

He added, "How do I live? My salary equals one hundred dollars, while the generator bill is one hundred dollars," referring to private generators that cover hours of power outages throughout the day and require customers to pay in dollars or according to the black market exchange rate.

Hatem continued, "I am now forced to be a vegetarian, since I am unable to buy meat or a bottle of gas," explaining that he has been traveling for weeks on foot in Beirut due to his inability to provide fuel for his car.