On day 58, army beats and arrests protesters
- The army attacked protesters closing roads in Jal el-Dib early in the morning. Videos circulating showed a number of soldiers violently pushing a protester to the ground. The army arrested seven protesters but released them following pressure from their families and friends who demonstrated outside the Sarba barracks. The army also violently cracked down on protesters in Jiyyeh and Barja.
- Meanwhile, protesters in Tripoli gathered outside the Serail to demand the resignation of the governor of the North, Ramzi Nohra. This follows after the governor of Akkar, Imad Labaki, resigned following protests in Halba.
- Protesters in Baalbeck and Tyre demonstrated outside the Central Bank branches.
Ogero employees attack protesters in Beirut
- Ogero’s employees in Bir Hassan, Beirut, hit protesters who stormed its headquarters. This came after protesters chanted against Ogero Chairman Imad Kreidieh.
- Kreidieh has requested an investigation regarding what happened. He also said that Ogero’s employees will move to file lawsuits against the protesters. Injured protesters were interrogated by security personnel while receiving medical care.
- Protesters gathered outside an Ogero branch in Badaro in solidarity with those hit in Bir Hassan.
Nada Boustani licenses Lebanon’s first oil exploration
- Caretaker Minister of Energy Nada Boustani handed to oil and gas company Total the license to drill Lebanon’s first oil exploration in offshore Block 4. It also handed the license to the Lebanese Petroleum Administration, which will be overlooking the work with Total.
- Boustani announced in a televised press conference that the drilling ship would arrive in January. Boustani also said that drilling in Block 9 will begin in 2020.
Nasrallah denounces U.S. agenda, calls for national unity government
- In a televised address, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah dismissed American officials’ assumptions that the revolution was targeting Hezbollah's weapons and Iran.
- Nasrallah also stated that there would be no government without equal representation among all mainstream political actors, especially the Free Patriotic Movement (PPM). FPM’S leader Gebran Bassil had said the day before that he would not participate in the next government on Hariri’s terms.
- Nasrallah commended the Army’s efforts at keeping roads open and denounced those taking advantage of the current economic situation to raise prices and make a profit.
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