Cairo Warns Addis Ababa Against Filling GERD Before Reaching Agreement

Cairo Warns Addis Ababa Against Filling GERD Before Reaching Agreement
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Cairo Warns Addis Ababa Against Filling GERD Before Reaching Agreement

Cairo Warns Addis Ababa Against Filling GERD Before Reaching Agreement

Egypt has warned Ethiopia against filling the Renaissance Dam it is building on the Blue Nile before reaching a binding and legal agreement on the filling and operation process.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Sunday that his country is ready to launch a new serious negotiation process that takes into account the interests of Cairo, Khartoum, and Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia has been building the dam on the main tributary of the Nile since 2011, and its Ministry of Water, Irrigation, and Energy announced the completion of about 78 percent of the construction so far.

Last week, it announced the dam is expected to hold 13.5 billion cubic meters of water in the upcoming rainy season.

Authorities started filling the reservoir on July 21, 2020. However, the completion of the first filling phase prior to reaching an agreement with Egypt and Sudan irked both countries.

Cairo has been seeking through intense diplomatic efforts to receive international support for its position against Addis Ababa’s.

On Sunday, Shoukry received a phone call from Finnish Foreign Affairs Minister Pekka Haavisto, during which he affirmed that his country “had hoped for the success of the African Union (AU) efforts in resolving the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s (GERD) issue.”

The AU-sponsored talks between Cairo, Addis Ababa, and Khartoum over the operation and filling of the mega-dam have faltered and were stalled in January, despite the intervention of international actors such as the United States and the European Union with observers.

Shoukry expressed his country’s aspirations to resume talks under the AU's new chairmanship of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi.

“The Egyptian state has expressed its political determination to reach a fair and balanced agreement that achieves Ethiopia’s development goals while preserving Egypt’s rights and protecting the two downstream countries from the dam’s potential dangers,” a foreign ministry statement read.

Addis Ababa refuses to legalize any agreement reached, which binds it to specific measures to alleviate the drought.



Gaza Ceasefire Talks Held Up by Israel Withdrawal Plans

Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli army bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli army bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
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Gaza Ceasefire Talks Held Up by Israel Withdrawal Plans

Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli army bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli army bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Indirect talks between Hamas and Israel for a ceasefire in Gaza are being held up by Israel's proposals to keep troops in the territory, two Palestinian sources with knowledge of the discussions told AFP on Saturday.

Delegations from both sides began discussions in Qatar last Sunday to try to agree on a temporary halt to the 21-month conflict sparked by Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Both Hamas and Israel have said that 10 living hostages who were taken that day and are still in captivity would be released if an agreement for a 60-day ceasefire were reached, reported Reuters.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he hoped to clinch a deal "in a few days", which could then lead to talks for a more permanent end to hostilities.

But one Palestinian source, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the talks, said Israel's refusal to accept Hamas's demand to withdraw all of its troops from Gaza was holding back progress.

Another said mediators had asked both sides to postpone the talks until the arrival of US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Doha.

"The negotiations in Doha are facing a setback and complex difficulties due to Israel's insistence, as of Friday, on presenting a map of withdrawal, which is actually a map of redeployment and repositioning of the Israeli army rather than a genuine withdrawal," one Palestinian source said.

The source said Israel was proposing to maintain military forces in more than 40 percent of the Palestinian territory, forcing hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians into a small area near the city of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, they added.

"Hamas's delegation will not accept the Israeli maps... as they essentially legitimize the reoccupation of approximately half of the Gaza Strip and turn Gaza into isolated zones with no crossings or freedom of movement," the source said.

A second Palestinian source accused the Israeli delegation of having no authority, and "stalling and obstructing the agreement in order to continue the war of extermination".

- Latest strikes -

The Gaza war began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Of the 251 hostages seized, 49 are still being held, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

At least 57,823 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, have been killed since the start of the war, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Gaza's civil defense agency said at least 14 Palestinians were killed in the latest wave of Israeli strikes across the territory on Saturday.

More than 30 people were killed on Friday, including 10 people who were waiting for aid handouts, the agency said.

The Israeli military on Saturday said it had attacked "approximately 250 terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip" in the last 48 hours.

Targets included "terrorists, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional terrorist infrastructure sites", it added.

Two previous ceasefires -- a week-long truce beginning in late November 2023 and a two-month one from mid-January this year -- led to the release of 105 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

The second Palestinian source said "some progress" had been made in the latest talks on plans for releasing Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and getting more aid to Gaza.

Netanyahu, who is under domestic and international pressure to end the war, said this week that neutralizing Hamas as a security threat was a prerequisite for any long-term ceasefire talks.

That included the group giving up weapons, he said, warning that failure to do so would mean Israel would have to do so by force.