Hundreds of veterans burned tires and blocked main arteries into the Lebanese capital Beirut and elsewhere on Thursday to protest plans to tax their pensions and other measures in the 2019 budget. Parliament is debating a draft budget approved by the cabinet last month. It aims to cut the deficit to 7.6 percent of gross domestic product from 11.5 percent last year, with Lebanese leaders warning the country faces financial crisis without reform. Fears of cuts in public-sector pay and pensions sparked protests as the budget was being drawn up earlier this year. The draft approved by cabinet omitted a proposed temporary public-sector pay cut. But army veterans continue to object to measures that will affect them. The draft budget includes a 3 percent cut in their pensions to help support health care and social services, a pension tax and a freeze on early retirement. In a reminder of the political issues facing Prime Minister Saad Hariris government, plumes of smoke rose early on Thursday as veterans blocked highways for several hours with burning tires. Long lines of cars queued on the highway south of Beirut, a scene repeated elsewhere in the country. The veterans waved Lebanese flags and held photos of soldiers who died in service, whose families will also be affected. "The political class pushed us to this," said Abbas Ammar, a first sergeant who retired in 2001. "All our lives we preserved the security of our country. These are our rights that we earned." The protests, which began at 5 am, were scheduled to last until 10 am. However, by about 9 am, veterans reopened the highways at the request of the army command. The main steps to cut the projected deficit to 7.6 percent of GDP include an increase in tax paid on interest, an import tax and a government plan to issue low-interest treasury bonds to cut debt-servicing costs.