Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq emphasized on Wednesday that future attempts by protesters to occupy and rally at state institutions will be “dealt with immediately.”

He announced in a press conference to address the recent civil society protests: “Future attempts will be dealt with by force.”

The Lebanese are never too far away from poking fun of their daily hardships and they were never less evident than during Saturday “You Stink” civil society protest.

References to popular songs, movies, and television shows were present among the myriad of banners and posters at the rally, which took place at Beirut's downtown area.

Thousands of anti-government protesters marched on Saturday from the interior ministry in the capital's Hamra thoroughfare to downtown Beirut's Martyrs Square in an anti-government protest organized by civil society, which is frustrated with the political class.

"You Stink,” which started as an online movement, is the main activist group behind the protest.

The General Security arrested at the Rafic Hariri International Airport a Lebanese fugitive while he was trying to flee the country to Venezuela through Turkey, the state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday.

The runaway has been in hiding since 2001 trying to flee several arrest warrants including a death sentence against him.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said that he will give orders to the security forces tasked to protect Saturday's civil society demos, to withdraw if the army did not meet his request to join the efforts in maintaining order and security.

“I will give orders to all the security forces who are tasked to maintain order during the civil society demos to withdraw if the army did not meet a request to maintain order,” said Mashnouq in an interview to An Nahar.

A cautious calm prevailed early Thursday in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh after an exchange of fire overnight between armed rivals that left two dead, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Clashes between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement and the Jund al-Sham Islamist group intensified overnight in the al-Fawqani street.

The Israeli army uprooted several trees that are located outside the technical fence on Lebanon's southern border and also stole the soil at the entrance of the town of Adaisseh, the state-run National News Agency reported Wednesday.

Two excavators carried out logging and uprooting trees outside the fence between Kfar Kila and Adaisseh with the support of a Merkava tank and a number of Humvees.

Syrian President Bashar Assad described on Tuesday as "legitimate" the presence of fighters from Hizbullah in Syria to back his forces against anti-regime gunmen.

"The difference (between Hizbullah and foreign anti-regime fighters) is legitimacy. Who invited Hizbullah to Syria?" Assad asked. 

Large crowds rallied Tuesday at Beirut's Riad al-Solh Square for a fourth day to denounce the government's performance, in a protest that remained largely peaceful despite minor scuffles with security forces.

Two people were injured as security forces used batons to push away protesters after some participants described as “infiltrators” hurled rocks and “molotov cocktails” at police, the Internal Security Forces and state-run National News Agency said.

Three people were killed in clashes overnight and into Tuesday morning between rival armed groups in Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp, near the southern city of Sidon, medical sources told Agence France Presse

The fighting between the Jund al-Sham Islamist group and members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement prompted hundreds of residents to flee Ain el-Hilweh and shelter in nearby mosques.