Relations between Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat and Hizbullah seem to be reaching an all-time low after the Shiite party’s al-Manar TV station slammed the Druze leader for criticizing Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

Al-Manar said in reference to Jumblat in its newscast on Monday that some officials remain steadfast in their stances while others tend to swing to adjust to the “regional winds.”

Fierce machinegun clashes between a Lebanese group and a Palestinian group are still ongoing since 7:00 pm in the “Kurds neighborhood” on the outskirts of the Beirut southern suburb of Borj al-Barajneh, state-run National News Agency reported.

“Security forces have not been able to reach the place due to the intensity of the clashes,” NNA added.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Monday noted that the latest “fear-inciting remarks on the rise of Salafist or fundamentalist (Islamist) movements … are being used as a ‘scarecrow’.”

“These remarks remind us of the old-new approach that calls for an alliance of minorities” in the region, Jumblat said, adding that such an approach “has destroyed Lebanon.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat reiterated his support for the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, stressing that Hizbullah can prove its innocence in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

He told As Safir newspaper in remarks published on Saturday: “I support its funding especially since a significant number of Lebanese believe that the international court can uncover the truth in the assassination.”

A number of March 14 MPs and officials on Friday criticized the latest stances voiced by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi about the Syrian crisis and Hizbullah’s arms.

“To give or not to give Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a chance is something to be decided by the Syrian people, not anyone else,” Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine Zahra told MTV.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s statements to al-Arabiya television will trigger wide responses locally, especially among the March 14-led opposition that had already criticized them, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Friday.

Sources told the newspaper that al-Rahi’s statements will have an impact on the Christians in Lebanon and they will confuse them.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Wednesday asked France and other world powers why doesn’t the international community force “the implementation of resolutions issued by the U.N. Security Council in order to strip Hizbullah of excuses” to possess arms, LBC television reported.

LBC quoted al-Rahi as saying that “Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must be given a chance because he is implementing reforms in Syria.”

Hizbullah deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem stated on Wednesday that the Mustaqbal movement and the March 14 camp are experiencing a period of low morale over former Premier Saad Hariri’s presence abroad, their failure in tackling social, economic, and political affairs, and the withdrawal of a number of officials from the camp’s ranks.

He said: “Their failures have forced them to point blame at other sides and this strategy will in turn backfire against them and lead to more losses within their ranks.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has said he made the “final clarification” to Hizbullah and Amal movement that his remarks on an electricity project have no political motives.

In remarks to As Safir daily published Monday, Jumblat said that a meeting held at the residence of General Security Department chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim the day before was “excellent.”

A meeting held between officials from the Progressive Socialist Party, Hizbullah and Amal movement on Sunday night failed to reach agreement on how to fund a $1.2 billion project to generate 700 Megawatts of electricity, involved sources said.

The sources told As Safir daily that the officials agreed on a roadmap on the role that the cabinet would play in the implementation of the project and the formation of an electricity regulatory authority but failed to decide on how to fund the plan because the government doesn’t have the capacity to cover all its expenses.