Lebanese protesters set up tents, blocking traffic in main thoroughfares and sleeping in public squares on Friday to enforce a civil disobedience campaign and keep up the pressure on the government to step down.

By early afternoon, scuffles broke out in the epicenter of the protests in central Beirut, when supporters of Hizbullah entered the area to reject chants against their leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who was named by the protest movement as one among the political elite who must leave.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday warned the Lebanese that the ongoing anti-government protests might descend into “chaos”, “collapse” and “civil war,” as he called on Hizbullah’s supporters to leave the protest squares.

“The protest movement is no longer spontaneous and it is being led by known parties and political forces and some sides are funding it,” Nasrallah cautioned in a televised address.

Several people were injured Friday as Hizbullah supporters launched fresh attacks on protesters at Beirut’s Riad al-Solh Square.

Riot police immediately intervened and separated between the two groups, making several arrests.

The Army Command responded via its official Twitter account to video footage that circulated on social media on Friday about a military member allegedly attacking a woman.

Anti-corruption protesters cut off major roads in Lebanon for a ninth day Friday, pledging to keep paralysing the country despite an offer by the president to meet their representatives.

MP Shamel Roukoz said he backs a total governmental change and that a new government of specialists must be formed as soon as possible to address the current situation in Lebanon, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Friday.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Thursday welcomed President Michel Aoun’s address to the nation and called for the formation of a “small, neutral and competent” government.

“President Michel Aoun addressed the Lebanese clearly and frankly, pinpointing their suffering and describing the Lebanese people as lively people who are capable of achieving change,” al-Rahi said in a statement released by Bkirki.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri held talks Thursday afternoon at the Center House with the ambassadors of European Union countries, in the presence of the EU Ambassador to Lebanon Ralph Tarraf.

Free Patriotic Movement chief and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil on Thursday told party members not to be scared of the ongoing popular revolt in the country.

“The most important thing is: do not fear and do not shake. This Movement does not fear and does not shake,” Bassil told FPMers inside the movement’s headquarters in Sin el-Fil as they came up with their own “Hela, Hela, Ho” pro-Bassil chant in response to the popular slogan used by protesters on the streets – and in some instances inside cafes and supermarkets.

Scuffles renewed Thursday at Beirut's Riad al-Solh Square between anti-government protesters and young men accusing them of "insulting" Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

The scuffles had first erupted Wednesday evening but took a more violent turn on Thursday with the increase in the numbers of both the protesters and the "Nasrallah defenders."