BEIRUT ‌— Since the start of the Lebanese uprising this past October, the protest square in the center of Beirut — Martyrs' Square — has been filled with tents erected by revolutionaries. Amid reports and efforts by the Ministry of Interior to remove such tents, a large number of demonstrators and protesters rushed Jan. 28 to resist the Internal Security Forces’ attempt to remove barriers blocking the road around the square and protecting their tents.

Nazih Khalaf is among the revolutionaries who have not left Martyrs’ Square since the start of the mass protests on Oct. 17, 2019.

“My name is Nazih Khalaf. Ninety-six days into the start of the protests that have been calling for basic rights, and as the state continues to disregard such rights, I announce that I am going on a hunger strike until such demands are fulfilled,” Khalaf said in a Jan. 21 post on his Facebook page.

When the popular protests broke out in various Lebanese regions Oct. 17, as a result of the deterioration of the economic and social conditions in the country, Khalaf, in his 40s, left his house, wife and 10-year-old daughter to sleep in the revolution squares in downtown Beirut.