Retired Lebanese Army soldiers burning tires in Riad al-Solh square in Beirut, on Sept. 9, 2026. (Credit: Van Meguerditchian/L'OLJ)
BEIRUT — Over a hundred retired military personnel protested in downtown Beirut and north Lebanon on Wednesday, calling for their demands, including restoring retirement benefits to their pre-crisis levels, to be included in the 2027 draft budget.
Speaking to L’Orient-Le Jour, former MP and retired General Chamel Roukoz called for support for the army and security forces, deeming such support necessary for the Israeli army’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon, the deployment of the Lebanese army, the state’s monopoly on weapons, and the “disarmament of militias.”
The Cabinet was scheduled to discuss the budget at 3 p.m. at the Grand Serail, but postponed the meeting for Thursday. Retired soldiers are expected to be joined by several public-sector employees and teachers’ associations calling for higher wages.
Retired military personnel, represented mainly by former MP and retired Gen. Chamel Roukoz and Bassem Yassin, two prominent figures in the movement, met with Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri, Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar, Defense Minister Michel Menassah, Public Works Minister Fayez Rasamny and Finance Minister Yassin Jaber at the government headquarters in the Mathaf district and later at the Finance Ministry.
However, the meeting held earlier today between retired military personnel and the ministerial committee did not result in a definitive agreement, even though it was described as "positive." Negotiations are now continuing at the Ministry of Finance, which is tasked with calculating the cost of the proposed measures and determining the necessary funding.
According to L'Orient-Le Jour, implementing the requested salary and pension increases in line with civil servants' and retirees' demands would cost around $1 billion. These groups want the draft 2027 budget to include the salary adjustment plan they say Parliament approved on Feb. 16, 2026. The intention is to partially recover the pension value lost after the 2019 financial crisis.
Retired General Jamil Dagher states that one of the demands is a thirtyfold increase in salaries and pensions. While awaiting the results of these negotiations, the retirees are continuing their protest activities and are open to escalating their actions.
Basically, any raise given to retired military personnel would also need to be provided to other civil servants and public sector retirees. This would affect the draft budget by increasing expenses — due to higher wage bills and pension payments — and by requiring the government to find additional revenue to cover these costs.
Speaking on the sidelines of the protest, Roukoz emphasized the army's role in the country's stability. "The Lebanese Army serves as a guarantee for the Lebanese State. It has an issue with the Lebanese authorities, who are supposed to guarantee citizens' rights," he said. "We are not against the authorities."
"On the contrary, we have been and will remain the protectors of the State," the former general continued, then addressing foreign nations — which, in his view, must support "legitimate institutions," specifically "the Lebanese army, security forces, and customs."
Roukoz also linked the military personnel's demands to the country's sovereignty and security challenges. "For the Israeli army to withdraw [from southern Lebanon] and the Lebanese Army to deploy, and to ensure the state’s monopoly on arms and the disarmament of militias, the army and security forces must be supported so they can guarantee this," he said.
Tires burned
At Riad Solh Square, where some protesters had spent the night after setting up a tent the previous day, retired soldiers burned tires, and some crossed the barbed-wire barriers separating them from the Grand Serail after Roukoz arrived at the site, according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA).
Roukoz said the protesters would remain in the streets “until the end of the meeting at the Finance Ministry.” He stressed, however, that the protesters were committed to not harming civilians or affecting their interests through their actions.
He also said the protesters would not try to prevent Cabinet ministers from attending the meeting, adding that the government’s priority would be a proposed reform of the salary scale and ranks to restore public-sector wages to their pre-2019 levels.
Since 2019, when the Lebanese lira collapsed and salaries lost most of their value, public-sector employees have received several salary adjustments and social assistance payments. Despite this, their wages have not yet returned to their pre-crisis value.
In addition to higher salaries, public-sector employees are demanding higher transportation allowances, rejection of the Finance Ministry’s proposed mechanism for paying salary arrears in installments, adoption of a new salary scale, and a system that would link wages to changes in consumer prices.
Calls for political movement
Buses carrying protesters from outlying regions were also en route to join the gathering, according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA). The number of protesters was expected to grow as buses arrived, according to the NNA.
“Show us the budget so we can give our opinion. There are many unnecessary expenses that could be allocated to us,” Simon al-Homsi, a former army communications engineer, told our reporter at the protest.
“What do they want? For us to beg for money in the street? For us to end up homeless after 30 years of service? Even a salary of $600 a month is not enough to live on,” he said.
“Unfortunately, I think political officials want to destroy the army. We cannot restore the army's sovereignty and authority without properly paying and respecting its members. Lebanon can have neither stability nor an economy without a properly functioning army. We will launch a political movement to demand our rights because the state is being run by thugs,” he added.
“We want all our rights. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam made a mistake in how he handled Defense Minister Michel Menassah. The minister represents us. We also stand with Gen. Chamel Roukoz. If he tells us to mobilize to demand our rights, we will see it through to the end,” said Zakhia Ghosben, a retired soldier.
Salam has faced criticism from retired military personnel since he refused during a parliamentary session on Aug. 11 to allow Menassah to address MPs. The minister had sought to oppose granting amnesty to people convicted of killing soldiers under a general amnesty law that Parliament later passed. The decision appears to have further angered former military personnel.
Earlier Wednesday, retired military personnel briefly blocked part of the highway linking Madfoun and Barbarah in northern Lebanon using burning tires, according to our correspondent.
Other retired soldiers blocked both lanes of the highway near Casino du Liban, in Jounieh, as well as Bank Street, near the Grand Serail in Beirut, according to the Traffic Management Center.
Retired soldiers also demonstrated at the southern entrance to Baalbeck in the Bekaa Valley, while others blocked the road at the Ablah roundabout in Zahle, according to the National News Agency.
Alongside the Cabinet’s discussion of the 2027 budget, the parliamentary Economy, Trade, Industry and Planning Committee, chaired by MP Farid Boustani, was scheduled to meet Wednesday morning to discuss the government’s economic plan and review inflation and rising prices in the market.
Additional reporting by Michel Hallak and Van Meguerditchian.
