E lias Saade is taking his seat on a sofa in a typical Lebanese living room. In front of him is a coffee table with a vase of flowers set on it. A large red rug at his feet really ties the room together.

But there is something different about this living room: it is located in the middle of Beirut’s busiest highway.

As anti-government demonstrations in Lebanon enter their third week, road blocks such as this have emerged as a defining battleground and a key strategy for keeping pressure on the country’s political leaders, who continue to resist the kind of sweeping reforms demanded by protesters.

“This is the entrance to Beirut, it’s a very important road,” says Saade, a 37-year-old entrepreneur. “Our aim is simple: we are stopping the government from functioning properly until they listen to us.”

The last two weeks of protests in Lebanon have been historic in size and character. More than a million people came out on to the streets in a rare display of national unity. They have called for a complete overhaul of the country’s sectarian political system and an end to endemic corruption.

Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests Show all 16 1 /16 Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests Protestors burn buildings in downtown Beirut The protests in Lebanon began as a spontaneous burst of anger over new taxes. On October 17, mostly young men came on to the streets in the capital Beirut and across the country. They clashed with police and lit fires. Richard Hall / The Independent Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests A large fire is constructed near Lebanon's parliament building The new taxes included a levy on the messaging service WhatsApp. In a country where people were already struggling, it was the final nail in the coffin. Richard Hall / The Independent Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests Protesters fight running battles with police Protesters continued to clash with police into the second night. Downtown Beirut became a battleground as volleys of tear gas rained down on demonstrators. Richard Hall / The Independent Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests The joker makes an appearance By the third day, the mood changed. The violence of the first two nights ebbed and numbers swelled. People came out by their thousands across the country. Richard Hall / The Independent Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests Protesters occupy an abandoned theatre in downtown Beirut The protesters took control of the streets. They also reclaimed public space that had been off limits to them for years. This image was taken from a grand theatre in downtown Beirut that had been shuttered since the civil war. Richard Hall / The Independent Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests Protesters look down from an abandoned building Here, two protesters look towards downtown from the top of a building nicknamed "the egg" for its dome-like structure. It was part of a complex that was under construction when war broke out in 1975, and it has remained empty and off-limits ever since. Richard Hall / The Independent Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests A protester faces off with a police officer Women have played a key role in these protests. They have been on the frontline of demonstrations and sit-ins — which had a marked effect reducing violence. For the first week, police didn't know how to deal with them. In this picture, a woman police officer tries to negotiate with a protester to remove a road block. She was part of a team of women police officers sent out on this day. Richard Hall / The Independent Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests A group of women resists police attempts to remove their sit-in This image was taken during a police attempt to remove people from blocking a road. Again, the presence of woman at the front of the sit-in led to the police abandoning the attempt. Richard Hall / The Independent Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests A woman chants at a roadblock protest on Beirut's ring road Protesters said the road blocks were vital in keeping up pressure on the government. Without them, they would be ignored. Richard Hall / The Independent Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests A living room is set up on one of Beirut's busiest roads Some of the roadblocks were more relaxed than others. Richard Hall / The Independent Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests Tens of thousands pack Tripoli's Nour Square The protests may have started in Beirut, but they have sprung up around the country. This photograph was taken in Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city. Protests there have outsized those in the capital Beirut. The city has been called the "bride of the revolution." Richard Hall / The Independent Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests The crowd looks up as a singer performs for protesters in Tripoli's Nour Square The scenes in Tripoli are even more remarkable given its recent history. For years it has been plagued by extremism and violence. These mass displays of unity in the city's main square every night have done a lot to counter other Lebanese citizens' perception of Tripoli. Richard Hall / The Independent Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests Young men take photographs of protests in Tripoli's Nour Square Tripoli is also one of Lebanon's poorest cities. The protests here have been fuelled by desperation of poor people struggling to get by. Richard Hall / The Independent Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests Police protect protesters from Hezbollah supporters But the protests have not been without their opponents. As demonstrations entered their second week, the Lebanese Hezbollah movement began to show anger at protesters for their demand that all Lebanon's political leaders stand down. In this image, police stand between protesters and a group of Hezbollah supporters in downtown Beirut. Clashes broke out when they left. Richard Hall / The Independent Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests A group of Hezbollah and Amal supporters attacks peaceful protesters in Beirut The worst violence of the protests came towards the end of the second week. Several hundred supporters of Hezbollah and its political ally Amal attacked protesters who were blocking the main ring road in Beirut. Afterwards, they stormed into downtown and destroyed a protest encampment. Richard Hall / The Independent Lebanon rocked by nationwide protests Protesters pile tent poles in downtown Beirut after they were destroyed by Hezbollah and Amal supporters But the protesters came back to the main square, made a mountain from the poles of destroyed tents and placed a flag in it. The same day, Lebanon's prime minister Saad Hariri resigned, given protesters their first major victory. Richard Hall / The Independent

The demonstrations have rocked Lebanon’s political elite, forced the resignation of the country’s prime minister, Saad Hariri, and prompted promises of widespread reforms.

But protesters say those reforms do not go far enough. As time has dragged on, and the numbers of people on the streets have dwindled, they are adapting their tactics to keep up the pressure.

“We had to do something because they are trying to act as if nothing is happening,” says Paola Elsitt, 28, who is among a few dozen protesters blocking the main Beirut road.

“Half the population of Lebanon was on the streets asking for them to leave, asking for them to give us our basic rights, and they are still ignoring us. They need to hear us, and this is the only way right now: for us to block the roads and have complete civil disobedience.”

The road blocks have sprung up across the country – in cities along the main highway that runs along the Mediterranean coast, on small mountain roads, in towns and villages in the south and in the Bekaa Valley to the east.

On a drive north from the capital Beirut to Lebanon’s second city Tripoli earlier this week The Independent witnessed more than a dozen major barricades along the highway. Some were small blockages made of stones and crates, others were giant parties attended by hundreds of people with tents and music.

Some protesters have sardonically pointed out that roads in Lebanon are often blocked anyway, and often as a result of the very problems they’re demonstrating against: politicians’ convoys often shut down the entire city centre, and highways are often crippled by traffic due to a lack of infrastructure and public transport.

The proliferation of these barricades across the country has highlighted the truly national reach of the protests, a rarity in deeply divided Lebanon.

They have been effective in paralysing the country, too. In the last week, security forces have made it a priority to reopen all the roads, leading to scuffles with protesters. On Thursday, soldiers removed dumpsters, cars and tents blocking a highway linking Beirut to the north of Lebanon and unblocked the main ring road in the capital.

The road blocks have also angered some Lebanese citizens. They have been criticised for disproportionately affecting the country’s poorer citizens who cannot afford to be prevented from going to work.

A protester faces off with a police officer at a roadblock sit-in in Beirut, Lebanon (Richard Hall/The Independent)

Earlier this week, supporters of the Lebanese Hezbollah party and its ally, the Amal movement, attacked protesters who were blocking the main ring road in Beirut. A group of several hundred threw rocks and sticks at demonstrators and journalists, before storming through downtown and destroying a protest encampment.

In the aftermath of the attack, protesters simply returned to their road blocks. Since then, they have been involved in a cat-and-mouse game with security forces. But there are signs that they may be shifting their tactics again, says Tamirace Fakhoury, associate professor of political science at the Lebanese American University in Beirut.

“Blocking the roads is a contested strategy, for sure. A lot of people say this is not the right way to go about it. However, the question is what are the efficient tactics to disrupt the system? I think we are dealing with an intelligent protest movement,” she says.

“Now they are blocking the roads only at night. They do not want to paralyse economic life totally, so they are reframing and restrategising and using roadblocks differently.”

Professor Fakhoury says the road blocks were a necessary manoeuvre for a society in which most civil organisations have been co-opted by sectarian political parties.

“It has emerged as a very efficient protest technique in order to maintain and sustain the uprising that otherwise would fizzle out,” she says.

“Activists are learning from previous strategies have found that lobbying and campaigning and just protesting in squares that are isolated will not impact and not disrupt the system and will not make politicians hear them.”

The reforms announced so far by the government have not placated protesters. The combination of an acute economic crisis and decades of rampant corruption has pushed the country to the edge.

Lebanon has one of the highest debt-to-GDP ratios in the world due to years of mismanagement. Unemployment stands at close to 25 per cent, and tens of thousands of educated young people leave the country each year due to a lack of opportunity.

Now, for the first time, the sectarian political order that has governed this eastern Mediterranean nation since the end of the civil war in 1990 is facing a mass movement aimed at its overthrow.

Protesters responded to the resignation of the prime minister by chanting a refrain that has become popular during the demonstrations: “All of them means all of them,” a rallying cry for the removal of all the country’s political leaders.

At the barricades and in the squares, there is a sense that these protests have caused a kind of awakening among many Lebanese people.

“They are saying the economy will collapse because we are blocking the road,” says Saade. “They are trying to blame us for their own mess. But it’s the corrupt politicians, it’s the central bank governor, it’s because all of them stealing that we are here.