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Ethiopia’s Plan to Build New Dams Raises Tension with Cairo

A handout satellite image shows a view of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Ethiopia on July 20, 2020. (AFP)
A handout satellite image shows a view of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Ethiopia on July 20, 2020. (AFP)
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Ethiopia’s Plan to Build New Dams Raises Tension with Cairo

A handout satellite image shows a view of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Ethiopia on July 20, 2020. (AFP)
A handout satellite image shows a view of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Ethiopia on July 20, 2020. (AFP)

A statement by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Addis Ababa’s plan to build many dams across the country has exacerbated tensions with Egypt.

Cairo denounced the announcement, stressing that it “reveals Addis Ababa’s bad faith.”

Ethiopia thinks the Nile River and other rivers it shares with neighboring countries are subject to its sovereignty alone, the Foreign Ministry noted.

It said all water projects should be established after coordination and agreement with the possibly affected countries.

Earlier this week, Ahmed said Addis Ababa plans to build more than 100 small and medium dams in various areas across the country in the upcoming fiscal year.

An Egyptian-Ethiopian dispute was sparked in 2011 when Addis Ababa began constructing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile.

Egypt and Sudan stress the need to reach a binding and comprehensive agreement on the dam’s filling and operation to guarantee the rights and interests of the three countries.

They also say the deal should include a mechanism for settling disputes on the filling and operation of the dam.

They fear the potential negative impact of GERD on the flow of their annual share of the Nile’s 55.5 billion cubic meters of water.

The African Union (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.

Egypt and 10 other downstream countries share the Nile basin, yet more than 85 percent of its share comes from the Blue Nile tributary in Ethiopia.

Cairo has repeatedly stressed its consent for Basin countries to benefit from the Nile River by implementing projects and achieving development for their peoples.

However, it underscores the importance of coordination and consultation among countries that might be affected by the water facilities and projects.

Ethiopia announced it still had plans to move forward with the second phase of filling the mega-dam when the rainy season begins in July.

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Arab World

Israeli Military Operations Paving Way for Battle in South Lebanon

Smoke rises as Israeli forces demolish homes in Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh, southern Lebanon, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP)
Smoke rises as Israeli forces demolish homes in Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh, southern Lebanon, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP)
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Israeli Military Operations Paving Way for Battle in South Lebanon

Smoke rises as Israeli forces demolish homes in Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh, southern Lebanon, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP)
Smoke rises as Israeli forces demolish homes in Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh, southern Lebanon, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP)

Israeli incursions and raids on southern Lebanon are paving the way for a military battle as the army has been striking heights overlooking villages and towns it is occupying. Israel has also been targeting roads and routes that run deeper into Lebanese territory, notably around Bint Jbeil city, security sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The operations and raids are focusing on the Ali al-Taher heights in the eastern sector that Israel has been trying to capture for ten weeks. In the central sector, it has been focusing on routes leading to Bint Jbeil and, closer to the coast, it has been carrying out similar incursions and detonations in the towns of Majdal Zoun and al-Mansouri.

The security sources said the operations appear to be paving the way for a military battle. The attacks are targeting all the hills surrounding Ali al-Taher, especially the al-Dabsha and al-Tahra that were occupied by Israel before it withdrew from the South in 2000.

The sources explained that focusing attacks on the hills and destroying houses around Ali al-Taher means that the troops are trying to isolate the entire strategic area from its surroundings.

For the past week, Israeli raids struck under-constructions houses and villas in the Dawhet Kfar Rumman and Nabatieh al-Fawqa areas, located north and southwest of Ali al-Taher respectively. It also continued to blow up houses in Kfar Tebnint that is located directly west of Ali al-Taher.

Israel has also struck Ali al-Taher itself with artillery and phosphorous bombs.

Lebanese media on Sunday said Israel used artillery to hit Mayfadoun and airstrikes hit Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Dawhet Kfar Rumman.

In the central sector, Israeli troops carried out incursions into four unoccupied towns: Beit Yahoun, Baraachit, Hadatha and Aita al-Jabal, all of which lead to Bint Jbeil, which is occupied by Israel.

The sources said a potential military battle in the future will not be limited to Ali al-Taher, but encompass the central sector.

The incursions are covering an area stretching some five kilometers from Baraachit to Hadatha in an attempt to create a buffer zone close to Ali al-Taher and capture areas that overlooking nearby valleys.

Arab World

Palestinian Authorities Say Israeli Army Kills Teen in West Bank

Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Islam Ajouri, 14, at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on August 23, 2026. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)
Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Islam Ajouri, 14, at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on August 23, 2026. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)
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Palestinian Authorities Say Israeli Army Kills Teen in West Bank

Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Islam Ajouri, 14, at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on August 23, 2026. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)
Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Islam Ajouri, 14, at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on August 23, 2026. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Israel's military killed a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, Palestinian health authorities said, while an Israeli and a Palestinian were wounded in separate incidents.

Israeli gunfire killed Islam Ahmad Maher Ajouri, 14, in the Askar refugee camp where he lived, outside Nablus in the north of the West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry announced.

Mohammed Abu Kashk, head of the Askar camp services committee, told AFP that the teenager was killed by Israeli forces during a raid on the camp.

"There were no clashes or confrontations that would justify shooting a child and killing him," he said.

According to a source from the Palestinian Red Crescent, Ajouri was hit in the chest by live ammunition. He was pronounced dead at Nablus National Hospital.

At his funeral, his uncle Ahmed Mohamed Zamzoum told AFP that the boy went outside during the army raid. "Every time the Israeli forces enter, one or more martyrs are killed," he said.

The Israeli army told AFP it was verifying the information.

In a separate incident, the army said it apprehended a man suspected of stabbing an Israeli earlier on Sunday in Al-Auja, in the central West Bank.

Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom said the 24-year-old victim had "a penetrating wound".

The man was evacuated to a hospital in Jerusalem, and his condition was described as "moderate".

According to the initial findings of the investigation, the victim parked near a shopping center and was "attacked from behind and stabbed in the shoulder", Israeli police said in a statement.

Hani Najum, the head of the Al-Auja village council, told AFP that "the Israeli army raided the village, deployed in its streets" and imposed a curfew.

In a third incident, the army reported that a "terrorist" attempted "to steal a weapon from an IDF soldier" near the Palestinian town of Taybeh, northeast of Ramallah, and that forces opened fire at the man, saying he was "neutralized".

Palestinian sources told AFP that the man, Aws Akram Maatan, from the village of Burqa east of Ramallah, suffered an injury to his foot and was taken to a Jerusalem hospital for treatment.

The head of the Burqa village council, Sayel Kanaan, said in a statement that Maatan had been shot "without justification".

Violence has surged in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, since the start of the war in Gaza sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel.

Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,100 Palestinians since then, according to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry.

Over the same period, at least 48 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to Israeli figures.

Arab World

Tunisia Says Recovered 11 Migrants' Drowned Bodies

African migrants rescued by the Tunisian coast guard in October (AFP)
African migrants rescued by the Tunisian coast guard in October (AFP)
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Tunisia Says Recovered 11 Migrants' Drowned Bodies

African migrants rescued by the Tunisian coast guard in October (AFP)
African migrants rescued by the Tunisian coast guard in October (AFP)

The Tunisian national guard said Sunday it recovered 11 bodies from the sea after a boat carrying migrants sank off the country's southeastern coast, with three people still missing.

The boat was carrying 15 people, only one of whom was rescued after it sank some 14 nautical miles off the shore of Zarzis on Friday night.

"Search operations resulted in the recovery of three bodies yesterday and eight bodies today, bringing the total to 11," the national guard said in a statement.

Searches for the three remaining missing passengers were ongoing, it added.

On Saturday night, residents in Ben Guerdane -- the marginalized city near the Libyan border where 14 of the migrants were from -- staged protests, blocking roads and setting tires on fire over the shipwreck.

Tunisia, whose coast is some 145 kilometers (90 miles) from the Italian island of Lampedusa, is a key departure point for migrants seeking to make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean in search of better lives in Europe.

The central Mediterranean crossing is the deadliest migration route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The IOM said earlier this month that the number of migrant deaths on the central Mediterranean route had more than doubled in the first four months of 2026 compared to the same period last year.

At least 914 migrants have died or gone missing along the route this year, according to the IOM.

In 2023, Tunisia signed a 255-million-euro ($290 million) deal with the European Union, nearly half of which was earmarked for tackling irregular migration.

The deal, strongly supported by Italy's hard-right government, aimed to bolster Tunisia's capacity to prevent boats leaving its shore.