Sisi Says he Values Trump Offer to Mediate Egypt-Ethiopia Dispute on GERD

FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump points as he attends a meeting with oil industry executives, at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, January 9, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump points as he attends a meeting with oil industry executives, at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, January 9, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
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Sisi Says he Values Trump Offer to Mediate Egypt-Ethiopia Dispute on GERD

FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump points as he attends a meeting with oil industry executives, at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, January 9, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump points as he attends a meeting with oil industry executives, at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, January 9, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he valued an offer by US President Donald Trump to mediate ⁠a dispute over Nile River waters between Egypt and Ethiopia.

In a post on ⁠X, Sisi said on Saturday that he addressed Trump's letter by affirming Egypt's position and concerns about the country's water ⁠security in regards to Ethiopia's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

"I am ready to restart US mediation between Egypt and Ethiopia to responsibly resolve the question of 'The Nile Water Sharing' once and for all," Trump wrote to Sisi in the letter that was also posted on Trump’s Truth Social account.

Addis Ababa's September 9 inauguration of GERD has been a source of anger ⁠in Cairo, which is downstream on the Nile.

Ethiopia sees the $5 billion dam on a tributary of the Nile as central to its economic ambitions.

Egypt says the dam violates international treaties and could cause both droughts ⁠and flooding.

Sudan, another ​downstream country, has expressed concern about the regulation and safety of ⁠its own water supplies and dams.

Sudan's army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan also welcomed Trump's mediation offer on Saturday.



Lebanon, Israel Start Day Two of Talks Despite Violence

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tibnit on May 15, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tibnit on May 15, 2026. (AFP)
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Lebanon, Israel Start Day Two of Talks Despite Violence

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tibnit on May 15, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tibnit on May 15, 2026. (AFP)

Lebanon and Israel opened a second day of talks in Washington on Friday, diplomats said, despite a new flare-up of violence with Israel striking its northern neighbor. 

Envoys from the two countries, which have no diplomatic relations, resumed talks at the State Department shortly after 9 am (1300 GMT), one diplomat said. 

A State Department official said that the first day of talks Thursday had been "productive," but Israel later said that a soldier was killed in southern Lebanon and it launched new strikes targeting Hezbollah. 

The United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon said the talks offer a "critical opportunity" to end the Israel-Hezbollah war.

"Diplomatic efforts now offer a critical opportunity to stop the violence," Imran Riza said in a statement, adding that he hoped "ongoing negotiations will pave the way toward a political solution".

"Airstrikes and demolitions continue daily, with an unacceptable toll on civilians and civilian infrastructure," he added.

Israeli attacks have killed at least 2,951 people since the start of the war on March 2, according to Lebanon's health ministry.


Israel Army Says Striking Hezbollah Sites in Tyre Area of South Lebanon

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on May 15, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on May 15, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Army Says Striking Hezbollah Sites in Tyre Area of South Lebanon

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on May 15, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on May 15, 2026. (AFP)

Israel's military said Friday it was striking Hezbollah targets in the Tyre area of south Lebanon, as the two countries entered the second day of US-brokered talks in Washington.

"The military has begun striking Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the area of Tyre in southern Lebanon," the army said in a statement, hours after issuing evacuation warnings for five towns and villages.

An AFP correspondent saw strikes in the area.

In a separate statement, the military said "a number of explosive drones" had fallen in several areas of northern Israel, with no injuries reported.

The exchanges of fire come despite a truce with Lebanon intended to halt the fighting.


Palestinian Authority Says Teen Killed by Israeli Forces in West Bank

Palestinian boys from a local soccer academy run after the ball during a training session at the municipal stadium of the West Bank City of Nablus, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Palestinian boys from a local soccer academy run after the ball during a training session at the municipal stadium of the West Bank City of Nablus, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
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Palestinian Authority Says Teen Killed by Israeli Forces in West Bank

Palestinian boys from a local soccer academy run after the ball during a training session at the municipal stadium of the West Bank City of Nablus, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Palestinian boys from a local soccer academy run after the ball during a training session at the municipal stadium of the West Bank City of Nablus, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The Palestinian Authority said Friday that a 15-year-old was killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, while the Israeli army said he had been throwing stones at Israeli cars on a road.

The authority's health ministry said it had been informed of the killing of Fahd Zidan Oweis. He was "shot dead by the (Israeli) forces at dawn today in the town of Al-Lubban al-Sharqiyya in the Nablus governorate. His body has been withheld," it said.

The Israeli army told AFP it "eliminated a masked terrorist" who had "hurled rocks towards Israeli vehicles on a central road, endangering lives.”