Egypt Demands ‘Practical Measures’ from Ethiopia to Reach Agreement on Nahda Dam

The Grand Renaissance Dam hydroelectric project in Ethiopia. (AFP)
The Grand Renaissance Dam hydroelectric project in Ethiopia. (AFP)
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Egypt Demands ‘Practical Measures’ from Ethiopia to Reach Agreement on Nahda Dam

The Grand Renaissance Dam hydroelectric project in Ethiopia. (AFP)
The Grand Renaissance Dam hydroelectric project in Ethiopia. (AFP)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Ethiopia should provide practical measures to reach an agreement over the Nahda Dam project on the Nile River.

He stressed Thursday that the measures must take into account the importance and vitality of water resources to the Egyptian people.

Ethiopia had sought to reassure Cairo over the project by saying it was willing to resume negotiations over the under-construction dam.

Since 2014, Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan have engaged in tripartite talks to reach a final agreement on the rules of filling and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The talks should end Cairo’s fears that the dam will reduce the river’s waters coming down from Ethiopia's highlands, through the deserts of Sudan, to Egyptian fields and reservoirs. Ethiopia has claimed the dam is necessary for its development.

In 2015, the leaders of the three countries signed an initial agreement on the Renaissance Dam to guarantee Egypt’s share of 55 billion cubic meters of the Nile water.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed delivered a message to Sisi through his Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew, who was visiting Alexandria on Thursday.

The PM "stressed his country's great interest in boosting all aspects of bilateral relations and enhancing friendship with Egypt.”

He also asserted "the importance of close coordination between Ethiopia and Egypt to achieve stability in Africa and the region, including supporting the Sudanese people to overcome the current challenges."

He expressed his country’s keenness on resuming tripartite talks between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to reach an agreement on the dam.

A new round of negotiations was set to be held between the three countries in Cairo in April, but the ouster of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and the ensuing upheaval in Sudan led to their postponement.

Informed sources said Egypt plans to soon hold a meeting that includes the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Water and intelligence officials from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia after relative calm was restored in Sudan.



Israel Says Rockets Fired from Syria for the First Time Since Bashar Assad’s Fall 

An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israel Says Rockets Fired from Syria for the First Time Since Bashar Assad’s Fall 

An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)

The Israeli army said two rockets were fired from Syria into open areas in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday, marking the first time a strike has been launched toward Israel from Syrian territory since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December.

Syrian state media reported that Israel shelled the western countryside of Syria’s Daraa province after the rocket launch. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, also reported Israeli airstrikes that caused “violent explosions” around the city of Quneitra and in the Daraa countryside.

A group calling itself the Mohammed Deif Brigades — named after a Hamas military leader killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza last year — claimed the attack in a post on Telegram. The group first surfaced on social media a few days before.

“Until now, it’s just a Telegram channel. It’s not known if it is a real group,” said Ahmed Aba Zeid, a Syrian researcher who has studied armed factions in southern Syria.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that Israel considers “the Syrian president directly responsible for every threat and firing toward the State of Israel” and warned of a “full response” to come “as soon as possible.”

Israel has been suspicious of the former opposition fighters who formed the new Syrian government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and has launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syria and seized a UN-patrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory since Assad’s fall.

Syria’s foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run TV channel that it has “not yet verified the accuracy” of the reports of strikes launched from Syria toward Israel.

“We affirm that Syria has not and will not pose a threat to any party in the region,” the statement said. It condemned the Israeli shelling, which it said had resulted in “significant human and material losses.”

The US, which has warmed to al-Sharaa's government and recently moved to lift some sanctions previously imposed on Syria, has pushed for Syria to normalize relations with Israel.

In a recent interview with the Jewish Journal, al-Sharaa said he wants to see a return to a 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries but stopped short of proposing immediate normalization, saying that “peace must be earned through mutual respect, not fear.”