Egypt Seeks Multilateral Int’l Mediation to Resolve GERD Dispute

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during a meeting with his Tunisian counterpart Othman Jerandi on Thursday, April 22, 2021. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during a meeting with his Tunisian counterpart Othman Jerandi on Thursday, April 22, 2021. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
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Egypt Seeks Multilateral Int’l Mediation to Resolve GERD Dispute

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during a meeting with his Tunisian counterpart Othman Jerandi on Thursday, April 22, 2021. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during a meeting with his Tunisian counterpart Othman Jerandi on Thursday, April 22, 2021. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)

Egypt has been seeking a multilateral international mediation to pressure Ethiopia before it moves ahead with the second phase of filling its mega-dam on the Blue Nile.

Cairo and Khartoum reject Addis Ababa’s unilateral move before reaching a binding legal agreement that would determine the rules of filling and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry visited Tunisia on Thursday on the last leg of his African tour that also took him to Kenya, Comoros, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Niger.

During his visits, Shoukry delivered letters from President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Egypt’s stance from the GERD dispute.

On his arrival to Tunis, Shoukry expressed his country’s willingness to coordinate with several states and parties to resolve the dispute and ensure regional stability and security, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Shoukry also briefed Senegal’s President Macky Sall on the talks between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan in Kinshasa that ended with no progress.

Senegal is a current member of the African Union Bureau and is expected to chair the AU in 2022.

Head of the Egyptian Parliament’s African Affairs Committee Sherif El Gabaly urged all the continent’s countries to support Egypt’s historic rights in the Nile River’s waters.

The world has become aware of Addis Ababa’s “intransigence,” he stated, noting that his country is keen to protect its water security, being an integral part of its national security, and it will “never allow its rights to be violated.”

On April 18, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tweeted that the second filling of the mega-dam will go ahead as scheduled in the next rainy season in July/August whether or not the three countries reached an agreement.



Tunisia Activists Launch Gaza-bound Convoy in 'Symbolic Act'

 Tunisians gather at a meeting point in Tunis on June 9, 2025, ahead of the departure of a land convoy named “Steadfastness” to break the siege on Gaza. (AFP)
Tunisians gather at a meeting point in Tunis on June 9, 2025, ahead of the departure of a land convoy named “Steadfastness” to break the siege on Gaza. (AFP)
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Tunisia Activists Launch Gaza-bound Convoy in 'Symbolic Act'

 Tunisians gather at a meeting point in Tunis on June 9, 2025, ahead of the departure of a land convoy named “Steadfastness” to break the siege on Gaza. (AFP)
Tunisians gather at a meeting point in Tunis on June 9, 2025, ahead of the departure of a land convoy named “Steadfastness” to break the siege on Gaza. (AFP)

Hundreds of people, mainly Tunisians, launched on Monday a land convoy bound for Gaza, seeking to "break the siege" on the Palestinian territory, activists said.

Organizers said the nine-bus convoy was not bringing aid into Gaza, but rather aimed at carrying out a "symbolic act" by breaking the blockade on the territory described by the United Nations as "the hungriest place on Earth".

The "Soumoud" convoy, meaning "steadfastness" in Arabic, includes doctors and aims to arrive in Rafah, in southern Gaza, "by the end of the week", activist Jawaher Channa told AFP.

It is set to pass through Libya and Egypt, although Cairo has yet to provide passage permits, she added.

"We are about a thousand people, and we will have more join us along the way," said Channa, spokeswoman of the Tunisian Coordination of Joint Action for Palestine, the group organizing the caravan.

"Egypt has not yet given us permission to cross its borders, but we will see what happens when we get there," she said.

Channa said the convoy was not set to face issues crossing Libya, "whose people have historically supported the Palestinian cause", despite recent deadly clashes in the country that remains divided between two governments.

Algerian, Mauritanian, Moroccan and Libyan activists were also among the group, which is set to travel along the Tunisian and Libyan coasts, before continuing on to Rafah through Egypt.

After 21 months of war, Israel is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies.

On June 1, the Madleen aid boat, boarded by activists including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and European parliament member Franco-Palestinian Rima Hassan, set sail for Gaza from Italy.

But on Monday morning Israel intercepted it, preventing it from reaching the Palestinian territory.

The UN has warned that the Palestinian territory's entire population is at risk of famine.