CAIRO: Tensions between Egypt and upstream Nile basin countries Sudan and Ethiopia flared up again Thursday over the construction and the effects of a massive dam being built by Ethiopia on the Blue Nile, the waterway’s main tributary.
A mostly desert nation of some 100 million people, Egypt fears the dam would reduce its vital share of the Nile waters and accuses Addis Ababa of not sufficiently cooperating on containing the dam’s effects. Egypt and Sudan have historically been allies, but a dispute over ownership of a border strip has poisoned relations, with the Egyptian media now routinely accusing Khartoum of taking Ethiopia’s side in the dispute over the dam.
Differences over the Ethiopian dam, which is 62 percent complete, is potentially destabilizing and could add a new and dangerous layer to the turmoil already ravaging the region. Military action by the Egyptians to halt the construction of the dam is unlikely, though not impossible, but if the three nations do not closely cooperate to limit its effects, their relations would be fraught with tension and distrust for many years to come.
Seeking to portray Egypt as a bullying neighbor, Sudan’s foreign minister this week said Cairo was only unhappy about the dam because it would stop it from using some of Sudan’s own share of the river’s waters.
“It’s high time Egypt pays what it owes and for Sudan to get its full share,” said Ibrahim Ghandour, the minister.
Egypt responded late Wednesday, with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry dismissing as inaccurate his Sudanese counterpart’s comments. The timing of his comments, said Shoukry, was suspicious given the negative fallout from the failure by the three Nile-basin nations to endorse a technical report prepared by an independent company on the likely effects of the dam.
“You cannot talk about water relations between two countries in terms of credit and debt... and it seems suspicious to raise this issue at this point of time,” Shoukry told Egypt’s official MENA news agency.
On Thursday, Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry responded to a recent comment by Egypt’s president that the river’s water is a matter of life and death to his country. The “Renaissance Dam” meant life or death to its country, too, said the ministry.
“We will continue to work with Sudan and Egypt for a fair and equitable use of the Nile water. This water source is the key to alleviating hunger and reach a level of development that other countries have reached,” the Ethiopian ministry said, seeking to reassure the Egyptians.
Egypt publicly recognizes Ethiopia’s developmental needs and the value of the dam to the east African nation, but it maintains that “water is a matter of life or death” for it. To Egypt, the most alarming effect of the dam is the length of time it would take the Ethiopians to fill the large water reservoir behind it. Egypt wants this to be a gradual process that would not dramatically reduce the volume of water reaching it.
“No one can touch Egypt’s share of water,” Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said last week in a thinly-veiled threat to Ethiopia.
A week earlier, he made a stern warning to the Ethiopians. “We are capable of protecting our national security and water to us is a question of national security. Full stop,” he said, but did not elaborate.
Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia tensions over dam flare up again
Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia tensions over dam flare up again
Gaza baby rescued from dead mother’s womb dies
- Doctors were able to save the baby, delivering her by Caesarean section
- The baby suffered respiratory problems and a weak immune system, said Doctor Mohammad Salama who had been caring for Sabreen Al-Rouh
RAFAH, Gaza Strip: A baby girl who was delivered from her dying mother’s womb in a Gaza hospital following an Israeli airstrike has herself died after just a few days of life, the doctor who was caring for her said on Friday.
The baby had been named Sabreen Al-Rouh. The second name means “soul” in Arabic.
Her mother, Sabreen Al-Sakani (al-Sheikh), was seriously injured when the Israeli strike hit the family home in Rafah, the southernmost city in the besieged Gaza Strip, on Saturday night.
Her husband Shukri and their three-year-old daughter Malak were killed.
Sabreen Al-Rouh, who was 30-weeks pregnant, was rushed to the Emirati hospital in Rafah. She died of her wounds, but doctors were able to save the baby, delivering her by Caesarean section.
However, the baby suffered respiratory problems and a weak immune system, said Doctor Mohammad Salama, head of the emergency neo-natal unit at Emirati Hospital, who had been caring for Sabreen Al-Rouh.
She died on Thursday and her tiny body was buried in a sandy graveyard in Rafah.
“I and other doctors tried to save her, but she died. For me personally, it was a very difficult and painful day,” he told Reuters by phone.
“She was born while her respiratory system wasn’t mature, and her immune system was very weak and that is what led to her death. She joined her family as a martyr,” Salama said.
More than 34,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, have been killed in the six-month-old war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas militants, according to the Gaza health ministry. Israel denies deliberately targeting civilians in its campaign to eradicate Hamas.
Much of Gaza has been laid to waste by Israeli bombardments and most of the enclave’s hospitals have been badly damaged, while those still operating are short of electricity, medicine sterilization equipment and other supplies.
“(Sabreen Al-Rouh’s) grandmother urged me and the doctors to take care of her because she would be someone that would keep the memory of her mother, father and sister alive, but it was God’s will that she died,” Salama said.
Her uncle, Rami Al-Sheikh Jouda, sat by her grave on Friday lamenting the loss of the infant and the others in the family.
He said he had visited the hospital every day to check on Sabreen Al-Rouh’s health. Doctors told him she had a respiratory problem but he did not think it was bad until he got a call from the hospital telling him the baby had died.
“Rouh is gone, my brother, his wife and daughter are gone, his brother-in-law and the house that used to bring us together are gone,” he told Reuters.
“We are left with no memories of my brother, his daughter, or his wife. Everything was gone, even their pictures, their mobile phones, we couldn’t find them,” the uncle said.
UN denounces ‘more serious’ Iran crackdown on women without veils
- Hundreds of businesses including restaurants and cafes have been shut down for not enforcing the hijab rule
- More women began refusing the veil in the wake of the 2022 death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini
GENEVA: The United Nations said Friday that it was concerned by reports of new efforts to track and punish Iranian women, some as young as 15, who refuse to wear the headscarf required under the country’s Islamic law.
The UN Human Rights Office also expressed alarm about a draft bill on “Supporting the Family by Promoting the Culture of Chastity and Hijab,” which would impose tougher sentences on women appearing in public without the hijab.
“What we have seen, what we’re hearing is, in the past months, that the authorities, whether they be plainclothes police or policemen in uniform, are increasingly enforcing the hijab bill,” Jeremy Laurence, a spokesman for the office, said at a press conference.
“There have been reports of widespread arrests and harassment of women and girls — many between the ages of 15 and 17,” he said.
Iranian police announced in mid-April reinforced checks on hijab use, saying the law was increasingly being flouted.
Hundreds of businesses including restaurants and cafes have been shut down for not enforcing the hijab rule, and surveillance cameras are being used to identify women without it, Laurence said.
More women began refusing the veil in the wake of the 2022 death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest by Iran’s morality police for allegedly breaking the headscarf law, which sparked a wave of deadly protests against the government.
Laurence said that on April 21, “the Tehran head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the creation of a new body to enforce existing mandatory hijab laws, adding that guard members have been trained to do so ‘in a more serious manner’ in public spaces.”
And while the latest draft of the new hijab bill has not been released, “an earlier version stipulates that those found guilty of violating the mandatory dress code could face up to 10 years’ imprisonment, flogging, and fines,” he said, adding that “this bill must be shelved.”
The Human Rights Office also called for the release of a rapper sentenced to death for supporting nationwide protests sparked by Amini’s death.
Toomaj Salehi, 33, was arrested in October 2022 for publicly backing the uprising.
“All individuals imprisoned for exercising their freedom of opinion and expression, including artistic expression, must be released,” Laurence said.
UN seeks to deescalate Sudan tensions amid reports of possible attack
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ envoy is engaging with all parties to deescalate tensions
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations is increasingly concerned about escalating tensions in Al-Fashir in Sudan’s North Dafur region amid reports that the Rapid Support Forces are encircling the city, signaling a possible imminent attack, the UN’s spokesperson said on Friday.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ envoy is engaging with all parties to deescalate tensions in the area, the spokesperson said.
Israeli army says missile fire kills civilian near Lebanon
- The violence has fueled fears of all-out conflict between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel
- “Overnight, terrorists fired anti-tank missiles toward the area of Har Dov in northern Israel,” the Israeli army said
JERUSALEM: The Israeli army said Friday a civilian was killed near the country’s northern border with Lebanon, as near-daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah rage.
Both sides have stepped up attacks this week, with Hezbollah increasing rocket fire and Israel saying it had carried out “offensive action” across southern Lebanon.
The violence has fueled fears of all-out conflict between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, which last went to war in 2006.
“Overnight, terrorists fired anti-tank missiles toward the area of Har Dov in northern Israel,” the Israeli army said, referring to the disputed Shebaa Farms district.
“As a result, an Israeli civilian doing infrastructure work was injured and he was later pronounced dead.”
Israeli media reported that the victim was an Arab-Israeli truck driver. Police told AFP they had not identified the body, but said it was the only one found after a truck was hit.
Hezbollah said it had destroyed two Israeli vehicles in the Kfarshuba hills overnight in a “complex ambush” on a convoy using missiles and artillery.
The Israeli army did not comment directly on the claim.
It said Israeli fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets around Shebaa village in southern Lebanon including a weapons store and a launcher, while soldiers “fired to remove a threat in the area.”
It said fighter jets also “struck Hezbollah operational infrastructure in the area of Kfarshuba and a military compound in the area of Ain El Tineh in southern Lebanon.”
Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that Shebaa village, Kfarshuba and Helta were targeted by “more than 150 Israeli shells,” leaving homes damaged.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has been trading almost-daily fire with the Israeli army since the day after its Palestinian ally Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.
Since October 8 at least 380 people have been killed in Lebanon, including 252 Hezbollah fighters and dozens of civilians, according to an AFP tally.
Israel says 11 soldiers and nine civilians have been killed on its side of the border.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides.
EU commits $73 million more for Gaza aid
- New EU aid would be focused on food deliveries, clean water, sanitation and shelters
- The EU and United States have demanded that Israel allows more aid into Gaza
BRUSSELS: The European Union on Friday said it was giving an extra 68 million euros ($73 million) to provide desperately needed aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
The territory has been devastated by more than six months of Israeli bombardment and ground operations after Hamas’s October 7 attack, leaving the civilian population of two million people in need of humanitarian assistance to survive.
“In light of the continued deterioration of the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and the steady rise of needs on the ground, the (European) Commission is stepping up its funding to support Palestinians affected by the ongoing war,” an EU statement said.
“This support brings total EU humanitarian assistance to 193 million euros for Palestinians in need inside Gaza and across the region in 2024.”
The EU said the new aid would be focused on food deliveries, clean water, sanitation and shelters, and would be channelled through local partners on the ground.
The United Nations has said Israel’s operation has turned Gaza into a “humanitarian hellscape,” amid fears of a looming famine.
The EU and United States have demanded that Israel allows more aid into Gaza.
The US military said on Thursday it had begun construction of a pier meant to boost deliveries to the territory.
The war in Gaza began with an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of about 1,170 people in Israel, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel vowed to destroy Hamas, with a retaliatory offensive that has killed at least 34,356 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
