Ethiopia Confident of Filling Nile Dam, Egypt Awaits ‘Comprehensive Agreement’

Ethiopia seems to be very confident in its ability to fill the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) despite pressure by Egypt. (AFP)
Ethiopia seems to be very confident in its ability to fill the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) despite pressure by Egypt. (AFP)
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Ethiopia Confident of Filling Nile Dam, Egypt Awaits ‘Comprehensive Agreement’

Ethiopia seems to be very confident in its ability to fill the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) despite pressure by Egypt. (AFP)
Ethiopia seems to be very confident in its ability to fill the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) despite pressure by Egypt. (AFP)

Ethiopia seems to be very confident in its ability to fill the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) despite pressure by Egypt.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stressed on Monday that the decision to fill the dam is “irreversible.”

He said the entire construction was progressing as planned and has reached the filling of the reservoir.

“For us, GERD is a matter of development and national identity that will not hurt Egypt and Sudan,” the premier stressed, adding that “no one can stop us from completing the dam.”

Ethiopia has ignored Egyptian pressure, included threats to file a complaint to the UN Security Council.

Cairo rejects any “unilateral decision” by Ethiopia without reaching a comprehensive agreement that meets the interests of all parties, including Khartoum.

According to former Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Dr. Hossam Moghazy, Egypt will not object to the first filling process during the upcoming rainy season in July.

However, he stressed that this should be part of a comprehensive agreement that sets the rules for the filling and operation of the $4 billion GERD.

Moghazy told Asharq Al-Awsat that his country counts on the decision to resume the tripartite negotiations in the coming period, based on Sudan’s initiative.

“Arrangements are currently being made with all parties to determine the date and terms of the talks.”

Sudan and Egypt both agree on their rejection to fill the dam reservoir before reaching a comprehensive agreement, while turning to Washington’s authority in the upcoming meeting to resolve controversial issues only, instead of returning to square one of the negotiations.

Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt had been expected to sign an agreement in Washington on the filling and operation of the dam in February, but Ethiopia skipped the meeting and only Egypt initialed the deal.

These talks are sponsored by the US Treasury department in partnership with the World Bank.

GERD has been under construction since 2011 when Ethiopia kicked off building it near its border with Sudan on the Blue Nile, which flows into the Nile River.

The construction has sparked concerns in Cairo that Egypt's already scarce supplies of Nile waters, on which its population of more than 100 million people is almost entirely dependent, would be further restricted.



Netanyahu Denounces Tactical Pauses in Gaza Fighting to Get in Aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Knesset plenum vote on the ultra-Orthodox conscription to military service law, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, 10 June 2024. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Knesset plenum vote on the ultra-Orthodox conscription to military service law, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, 10 June 2024. (EPA)
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Netanyahu Denounces Tactical Pauses in Gaza Fighting to Get in Aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Knesset plenum vote on the ultra-Orthodox conscription to military service law, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, 10 June 2024. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Knesset plenum vote on the ultra-Orthodox conscription to military service law, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, 10 June 2024. (EPA)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized plans announced by the military on Sunday to hold daily tactical pauses in fighting along one of the main roads into Gaza to facilitate aid delivery into the Palestinian enclave.

The military had announced the daily pauses from 0500 GMT until 1600 GMT in the area from the Kerem Shalom Crossing to the Salah al-Din Road and then northwards.

"When the prime minister heard the reports of an 11-hour humanitarian pause in the morning, he turned to his military secretary and made it clear that this was unacceptable to him," an Israeli official said.

The military clarified that normal operations would continue in Rafah, the main focus of its operation in southern Gaza, where eight soldiers were killed on Saturday.

The reaction from Netanyahu underlined political tensions over the issue of aid coming into Gaza, where international organizations have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads one of the nationalist religious parties in Netanyahu's ruling coalition, denounced the idea of a tactical pause, saying whoever decided it was a "fool" who should lose their job.

DIVISIONS BETWEEN COALITION, ARMY

The spat was the latest in a series of clashes between members of the coalition and the military over the conduct of the war, now in its ninth month.

It came a week after centrist former general Benny Gantz quit the government, accusing Netanyahu of having no effective strategy in Gaza.

The divisions were laid bare last week in a parliamentary vote on a law on conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant voting against it in defiance of party orders, saying it was insufficient for the needs of the military.

Religious parties in the coalition have strongly opposed conscription for the ultra-Orthodox, drawing widespread anger from many Israelis, which has deepened as the war has gone on.

Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi, the head of the military, said on Sunday there was a "definite need" to recruit more soldiers from the fast-growing ultra-Orthodox community.

RESERVISTS UNDER STRAIN

Despite growing international pressure for a ceasefire, an agreement to halt the fighting still appears distant, more than eight months since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas fighters on Israel triggered a ground assault on the enclave by Israeli forces.

Since the attack, which killed some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners in Israeli communities, Israel's military campaign has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health ministry figures, and destroyed much of Gaza.

Although opinion polls suggest most Israelis support the government's aim of destroying Hamas, there have been widespread protests attacking the government for not doing more to bring home around 120 hostages who are still in Gaza after being taken hostage on Oct. 7.

Meanwhile, Palestinian health officials said seven Palestinians were killed in two air strikes on two houses in Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip.

As fighting in Gaza has continued, a lower level conflict across the Israel-Lebanon border is now threatening to spiral into a wider war as near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia have escalated.

In a further sign that fighting in Gaza could drag on, Netanyahu's government said on Sunday it was extending until Aug. 15 the period it would fund hotels and guest houses for residents evacuated from southern Israeli border towns.