Egyptian Govt Receives Parliament’s Support in GERD Dispute

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has been a source of discord for years. (AP)
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has been a source of discord for years. (AP)
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Egyptian Govt Receives Parliament’s Support in GERD Dispute

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has been a source of discord for years. (AP)
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has been a source of discord for years. (AP)

The Egyptian government received parliament’s support in its handling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute.

On Monday, the parliamentary agriculture, irrigation and food security committee, headed by Hesham al-Hosary, agreed to Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Aty’s statement before legislature, weeks ago, in which he explained the government’s plan to address water challenges.

The challenges, he said, include water shortages and a growing population.

He stressed the importance of explaining the ministry’s plan to confront these challenges, develop the irrigation system, replace and rehabilitate drainage and irrigation stations and spread awareness among citizens to conserve water.

Abdel Aty, for his part, said the GERD is one of the most significant challenges facing the country, “in light of our 97 percent dependence on the waters of the Nile River.”

“We have so far failed to reach a binding agreement on filling and operating the dam,” he added, noting that Egypt is facing a second challenge related to climate change.

“Among the challenges are the increase in population and the shortage of water resources, as we currently need 114 billion cubic meters annually, while we only have 60 billion meters available,” he explained.

Cairo fears the potential negative impact of GERD on the flow of its annual share of the Nile’s 55.5 billion cubic meters of water.

Ethiopia has been building the Dam on the main tributary of the Nile since 2011, and the Ministry of Water, Irrigation, and Energy announced it had completed about 78 percent of the construction so far.

Negotiations that took place under the auspices of the African Union between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan were suspended after they failed in January to reach a consensus on the rules for filling and operating the dam.

Cairo 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.

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

Egypt is looking forward to the African Union (AU) stance in this regard and is hoping to start a new round of negotiations under the new AU presidency.

The AU has been sponsoring the so far faltered talks between Cairo, Addis Ababa and Khartoum since July 2020, despite the intervention of international actors such as the United States and the European Union with observers.

On Sunday, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said his country hopes the new AU chairperson, President of Congo Felix Tshisekedi, will resume negotiations on the GERD.



94 Palestinians Killed in Gaza, Including 45 People Waiting for Aid

A Palestinian inspects the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an overnight Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
A Palestinian inspects the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an overnight Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
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94 Palestinians Killed in Gaza, Including 45 People Waiting for Aid

A Palestinian inspects the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an overnight Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
A Palestinian inspects the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an overnight Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Airstrikes and shootings killed 94 Palestinians in Gaza overnight, including 45 while attempting to get much-needed humanitarian aid, hospitals and the Health Ministry said Thursday.

Israel’s military did not have immediate comment on the strikes, The Associated Press reported.

Five people were killed while outside sites associated with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the newly created, secretive American organization backed by Israel to feed the Gaza Strip’s population, while 40 others were killed waiting for aid trucks in other locations across the Gaza Strip.

Dozens of people were killed in airstrikes that pounded the Strip Wednesday night and Thursday morning, including 15 people killed in strikes that hit tents in the sprawling Muwasi zone, where many displaced Palestinians are sheltering, and a strike on a school in Gaza City sheltering displaced people.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza has passed 57,000, including 223 missing people who have been declared dead. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its death count but says that more than half of the dead are women and children.

The deaths come as Israel and Hamas inch closer to a possible ceasefire that would end the 21-month war.

Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. But Hamas’ response, which emphasized its demand that the war end, raised questions about whether the latest offer could materialize into an actual pause in fighting.

The Israeli military blames Hamas for the civilian casualties because it operates from populated areas. The military said it targeted Hamas members and rocket launchers in northern Gaza that launched rockets towards Israel on Wednesday.

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.

The war has left the coastal Palestinian territory in ruins, with much of the urban landscape flattened in the fighting. More than 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has been displaced, often multiple times. And the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, leaving hundreds of thousands of people hungry.