Palestinian Gov’t Accuses Israel of ‘Frantic Escalation’

A Palestinian clashing with an Israeli border guard in West Bank town of Huwara on Friday, May 27, 2022. (AFP)
A Palestinian clashing with an Israeli border guard in West Bank town of Huwara on Friday, May 27, 2022. (AFP)
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Palestinian Gov’t Accuses Israel of ‘Frantic Escalation’

A Palestinian clashing with an Israeli border guard in West Bank town of Huwara on Friday, May 27, 2022. (AFP)
A Palestinian clashing with an Israeli border guard in West Bank town of Huwara on Friday, May 27, 2022. (AFP)

The Palestinian government has accused Israel of fueling tension between both peoples.

This comes in light of clashes that took place in the central West Bank town of Huwara, near the city of Nablus on Friday, in which more than 100 Palestinians were injured.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry released a statement condemning Israel's repression and abusive acts.

It blamed the occupation forces for giving the settlers a free hand to attack Palestinian civilians who are launching peaceful protests against expanding Jewish settlements and the confiscation of Palestinian land.

It also held the US administration and the international community accountable for their mismanagement of the conflict and for undermining any chance to achieve political settlement based on the international references for peace, topped by the two-state solution and the “land for peace.”

It urged them to press Israel and take the necessary measures and steps to halt the “frantic escalation" against Palestinians.

Videos posted on social media this week showed Jewish settlers and Israeli soldiers taking down Palestinian flags in the town. In response, Palestinians organized a march with people waving flags, leading to confrontations with Israeli forces.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Friday that the medics had dealt with 88 injuries from the Israeli fire in Nablus and nearby towns and villages.

It recorded one injury with live fire, 10 injuries with rubber-coated metal bullets, 72 injuries from tear gas inhalation, two injuries with pepper gas, one stun grenade wound, and two burn injuries.

These casualties were reported in the towns of Beit Dajan, Jabal Sabih, Beita, and Huwara in Nablus during violent confrontations with the occupation forces.

Four people were also injured by rubber-coated metal bullets and dozens have reportedly suffered from smoke inhalation during the Israeli occupation forces' suppression of the weekly Kafr Qaddum march, east of Qalqilya.



Egypt Says GERD Lacks Legally Binding Agreement

This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
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Egypt Says GERD Lacks Legally Binding Agreement

This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)

Egypt said Friday that Ethiopia has consistently lacked the political will to reach a binding agreement on its now-complete dam, an issue that involves Nile River water rights and the interests of Egypt and Sudan.

Ethiopia’s prime minister said Thursday that the country’s power-generating dam, known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), on the Nile is now complete and that the government is “preparing for its official inauguration” in September.

Egypt has long opposed the construction of the dam, because it would reduce the country's share of Nile River waters, which it almost entirely relies on for agriculture and to serve its more than 100 million people.

The more than the $4 billion dam on the Blue Nile near the Sudan border began producing power in 2022. It’s expected to eventually produce more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity — double Ethiopia’s current output.

Ethiopia and Egypt have spent years trying to reach an agreement over the dam, which Ethiopia began building in 2011.

Both countries reached no deal despite negotiations over 13 years, and it remains unclear how much water Ethiopia will release downstream in case of a drought.

Egyptian officials, in a statement, called the completion of the dam “unlawful” and said that it violates international law, reflecting “an Ethiopian approach driven by an ideology that seeks to impose water hegemony” instead of equal partnership.

“Egypt firmly rejects Ethiopia’s continued policy of imposing a fait accompli through unilateral actions concerning the Nile River, which is an international shared watercourse,” Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said in a statement Friday.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his address to lawmakers Thursday, said that his country “remains committed to ensuring that our growth does not come at the expense of our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters.”

“We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water,” he said. “Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all.”

However, the Egyptian water ministry said Friday that Ethiopian statements calling for continued negotiations “are merely superficial attempts to improve its image on the international stage.”

“Ethiopia’s positions, marked by evasion and retreat while pursuing unilateralism, are in clear contradiction with its declared willingness to negotiate,” the statement read.

However, Egypt is addressing its water needs by expanding agricultural wastewater treatment and improving irrigation systems, according to the ministry, while also bolstering cooperation with Nile Basin countries through backing development and water-related projects.