The stark warning comes as the country struggles to contain a spiralling economic and financial crisis that threatens to nose-dive further in the coming weeks, as well as concerns of unrest in the fragile country also witnessing a surge in coronavirus cases and deaths.

The protests come after two days of rallies spurred by a dramatic collapse of the local currency against the dollar. Those rallies degenerated into violence, including attacks on private banks and shops.

More than 200 people, including a legislator, were injured in the riots, some of whom were rushed to hospital for treatment.

The crisis in Lebanon, one of the most heavily indebted nations in the world, is rooted in decades of state corruption and bad management

The protesters targeted mostly banks that have imposed informal capital controls, limiting the withdrawal of dollars and foreign transfers.

At least 114 people were injured in the Beirut protests, according to the Red Cross and the Lebanese Civil Defence teams. 47 of those injured were transported to hospitals for treatment.

After a lull in largely peaceful protests which broke out across the country in October over the state of the economy, people filled the streets again this week. They are furious at a ruling elite that has steered the country towards its worst economic crisis in decades.

The protesters returned to the streets after several weeks of relative calm, following the designation of Hassan Diab as prime minister in mid-December.

It might strike some as a banner year, but there are critical parts of history in which protests and large social movements made waves. So what stood out in 2019?

Hassan Diab, a university professor and former education minister, will have to steer Lebanon out of its worst economic and financial crisis in decades.