Former President of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, expressed his pessimism about the future of the region in light of the open war with Iran, the Israeli escalation in Gaza and southern Lebanon, and the decline in the potential for internal dialogue in Lebanon. He said in an interview with the French newspaper “Liberation” that he was no longer able to communicate with Hezbollah as he had previously done during the time of the party’s former Secretary-General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, considering that the current leadership “has become completely under Iranian influence after the assassination of Nasrallah at the hands of Israel in 2024.” He added: “I can no longer, and I do not know how, to talk to the party,” noting that he was previously able to discuss and communicate with Nasrallah, “but there is no longer an interlocutor.” Jumblatt also considered that “Hezbollah’s opponents have also become completely rigid,” saying that the head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, is acting like Moses, adding that “everyone is stuck in a spiral of violence and exchanging insults, while the rational voice has disappeared.” He warned of the growing “separatist and divisive influence in the region,” considering that “the Israeli project to create sectarian, religious, and tribal entities has returned to the forefront with the aim of dismantling the entire region.” He denounced “Israel’s complete impunity,” saying that it had “a green light to destroy Gaza and southern Lebanon and colonize the remaining Palestinian lands in the West Bank.” He added, “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to advance the Zionist project that has existed for more than a century.” Regarding the regional issue, Jumblatt expected the war against Iran to continue, considering that “there are many beneficiaries from it, from arms and oil companies to technology and artificial intelligence companies,” adding: “The stock market is rising, and so is gold,” concluding by saying that he is “completely pessimistic.”