Cairo Seeking Binding Legal Agreement to Avoid Negative Impact of GERD

Construction work in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Reuters)
Construction work in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Reuters)
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Cairo Seeking Binding Legal Agreement to Avoid Negative Impact of GERD

Construction work in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Reuters)
Construction work in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Reuters)

Egypt has been seeking to push Ethiopia to conclude a binding legal agreement that spares it the potential negative impact of the mega dam, which Addis Ababa is constructing on the Nile River.

Cairo fears the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) would affect the flow of its annual share of the Nile’s 55.5 billion cubic meters of water especially that it relies on it for more than 90 percent of its water supplies.

In a phone conversation with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi stressed his country’s firm position on formulating a binding legal agreement that preserves Egyptian water rights and includes Sudan, Ethiopia, and Egypt.

The agreement shall define the rules for filling and operating the dam while preserving Cairo’s water rights, he noted.

The African Union has been sponsoring talks among Cairo, Addis Ababa, and Khartoum since July and attended by observers from the United States and the European Union.

For nearly a decade, talks over the operation and filling of the mega-dam have faltered.

The latest GERD meeting was held on Nov. 21 between Egypt and Ethiopia’s irrigation ministers. Sudan boycotted the talks, calling on the AU to change the negotiation’s approach and expand the role of experts.

The ministers agreed to prepare separate reports, including their countries’ visions to advance the negotiations, and send them to South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Dr. Naledi Pandor.

According to Presidential spokesman Bassam Rady, Sisi received a phone call from Ramaphosa during which both sides discussed and exchanged views on the issue.

Ramaphosa praised Egypt’s efforts to reach a solution on this vital issue and called for coordination during the coming period to work on reaching a fair and balanced agreement.

South Africa’s term ends at the end of 2020 and the Democratic Republic of the Congo will take over the AU presidency in 2021.

On Saturday, Sisi also held a phone conversation with his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi during which they discussed regional and continental issues of mutual interest.



UN Chief ‘Deeply Alarmed’ by Israeli Strike on Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza 

A Palestinian boy inspects the damage after two Israeli missiles hit a building inside the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital, shortly after patients were evacuated following a call from someone who identified himself with Israeli security, in Gaza City, April 13, 2025. (Reuters)
A Palestinian boy inspects the damage after two Israeli missiles hit a building inside the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital, shortly after patients were evacuated following a call from someone who identified himself with Israeli security, in Gaza City, April 13, 2025. (Reuters)
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UN Chief ‘Deeply Alarmed’ by Israeli Strike on Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza 

A Palestinian boy inspects the damage after two Israeli missiles hit a building inside the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital, shortly after patients were evacuated following a call from someone who identified himself with Israeli security, in Gaza City, April 13, 2025. (Reuters)
A Palestinian boy inspects the damage after two Israeli missiles hit a building inside the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital, shortly after patients were evacuated following a call from someone who identified himself with Israeli security, in Gaza City, April 13, 2025. (Reuters)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "deeply alarmed" at Sunday's strike by Israeli forces on the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, his spokesperson said on Tuesday.

"Under international humanitarian law, wounded and sick, medical personnel and medical facilities, including hospitals, must be respected and protected," the UN chief's spokesperson said.

He said the attack dealt "a severe blow to an already devastated healthcare system in the Strip", adding there was strong concern that medical supplies are running low as well as food and water.

Two Israeli missiles hit the major Gaza hospital on Sunday, putting the emergency department out of action and damaging other structures, medics said, in a strike that Israel said was aimed at Hamas fighters exploiting the facility.

Health officials at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital evacuated patients after a phone call from someone who identified himself as Israeli security shortly before the attack.

No new humanitarian supplies have entered the Palestinian enclave since Israel blocked the entry of aid trucks on March 2, as talks stalled on the next stage of a now broken truce. Israel resumed its military assault on March 18.

Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said 25,000 aid trucks had entered Gaza in the 42 days of the ceasefire and that Hamas had used the aid to rebuild its war machine, an allegation which the group has denied.