Sisi Tells British PM that Egypt Upholds its Historic Rights of Nile Water

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. EPA
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. EPA
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Sisi Tells British PM that Egypt Upholds its Historic Rights of Nile Water

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. EPA
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. EPA

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi reiterated to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Egypt’s position of wanting to ensure its water security and upholding its “historic rights of Nile water."

During a telephone call on Tuesday, the Egyptian president called on the international community to continue supporting the negotiation process to reach a comprehensive, just, and legally binding agreement on the filling and operating rules of the GERD.

The two leaders discussed trade, investment cooperation, health and security, and efforts to combat terrorism, while also exchanging views on the latest developments in the GERD crisis, official spokesperson for the Presidency Bassam Rady said.

They agreed on boosting cooperation in the security, military, and intelligence fields, especially in terms of counterterrorism efforts and efforts to face illegal immigration and secure borders.

Sisi and Johnson agreed to maximize cooperation in the health sector in a way that achieves the maximum benefit from the British excellence in this field. This coincides with the need for solidarity against the coronavirus pandemic. It includes training specialized medical cadres, cooperation in manufacturing the coronavirus vaccines, and accurate exchange of information to organize traveling between the two countries.

They also discussed collaboration on climate change, with the upcoming COP26 conference in Glasgow at the end of the year, and the need to support developing countries in obtaining funding, as well as technological and technical support, to tackle the issue.

The two leaders also highlighted developments in Palestine and the importance of maintaining the cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian factions.

Meanwhile, Johnson praised the role Egypt plays in mediating between the parties, and its allocation of $500 million for reconstruction projects in the Gaza Strip.



Women and Children Scavenge for Food in Gaza, UN Official Says

 Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
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Women and Children Scavenge for Food in Gaza, UN Official Says

 Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)

Large groups of women and children are scavenging for food among mounds of trash in parts of the Gaza Strip, a UN official said on Friday following a visit to the Palestinian enclave.

Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights office for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, expressed concern about the levels of hunger, even in areas of central Gaza where aid agencies have teams on the ground.

"I was particularly alarmed by the prevalence of hunger," Sunghay told a Geneva press briefing via video link from Jordan. "Acquiring basic necessities has become a daily, dreadful struggle for survival."

Sunghay said the UN had been unable to take any aid to northern Gaza, where he said an estimated 70,000 people remain following "repeated impediments or rejections of humanitarian convoys by the Israeli authorities".

Sunghay visited camps for people recently displaced from parts of northern Gaza. They were living in horrendous conditions with severe food shortages and poor sanitation, he said.

"It is so obvious that massive humanitarian aid needs to come in – and it is not. It is so important the Israeli authorities make this happen," he said. He did not specify the last time UN agencies had sent aid to northern Gaza.

US WARNING

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin set out steps last month for Israel to carry out in 30 days to address the situation in Gaza, warning that failure to do so may have consequences on US military aid to Israel.

The State Department said on Nov. 12 that President Joe Biden's administration had concluded that Israel was not currently impeding assistance to Gaza and therefore was not violating US law.

The Israeli army, which began its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the group's attack on southern Israeli communities in October 2023, said its operating in northern Gaza since Oct. 5 were trying to prevent militants regrouping and waging attacks from those areas.

Israel's government body that oversees aid, Cogat, says it facilitates the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and accuses UN agencies of not distributing it efficiently.

Looting has also depleted aid supplies within the Gaza Strip, with nearly 100 food aid trucks raided on Nov. 16.

"The women I met had all either lost family members, were separated from their families, had relatives buried under rubble, or were themselves injured or sick," Sunghay said of his stay in the Gaza Strip.

"Breaking down in front of me, they desperately pleaded for a ceasefire."