CAIRO: Egyptian armed forces have launched a joint air training exercise, Nile Eagles 2, with the Sudanese air force at Sudan’s Merowe air base.
The training includes elements from the air forces and Thunderbolt commando forces from both countries, Egypt’s military said in a statement.
The early stages of the training included joint sorties, with multi-role fighters attacking targets and protecting vital installations.
Thunderbolt forces on both sides resumed training in attack, concealment and camouflage operations.
Mohammed Othman Al-Hussein, chief of staff of the Sudanese armed forces, inspected the participating troops, listened to a summary of the training stages, and also followed the sorties and air force training.
Al-Hussein praised the “clear harmony” in the performance between the forces.
The exercise aims to achieve the maximum possible benefit in terms of planning and carrying out air operations, the Egyptian armed forces said.
The two armed forces held the Nile Eagles 1 exercise last November, which lasted for about a week.
These exercises come amid growing fears in Cairo and Khartoum concerning the effects of the Renaissance Dam on their share of Nile River water, with negotiations suspended and no solution in sight.
On Tuesday, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that Egypt will refuse to allow a single drop of its water to be taken.
“No one is untouchable for us,” he said. “Our water is a red line.”
The Egyptian leader was speaking at a press conference held after the huge container ship Ever Given was refloated in the Suez Canal.
The president said: “We choose to negotiate; hostile action is ugly and has effects that extend for many years, and nations do not forget this. But if our water supplies are affected, Egypt’s reaction will reverberate in the region.”
Egypt, Sudan launch joint air exercise as Nile dam tensions mount
https://arab.news/z68ph
Egypt, Sudan launch joint air exercise as Nile dam tensions mount
- The early stages of the training included joint sorties, with multi-role fighters attacking targets and protecting vital installations
Gaza access: Foreign press group welcomes Israel court deadline
- The Foreign Press Association, which represents hundreds of foreign journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories, filed a petition to the Supreme Court last year, seeking immediate access for international journalists to the Gaza Strip
JERUSALEM: The Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem on Sunday welcomed the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to set Jan. 4 as the deadline for Israel to respond to its petition seeking media access to Gaza.
Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, sparked by the attack on Israel, Israeli authorities have prevented foreign journalists from independently entering the devastated territory.
Israel has instead allowed, on a case-by-case basis, a handful of reporters to accompany its troops into the blockaded Palestinian territory.
The Foreign Press Association, which represents hundreds of foreign journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories, filed a petition to the Supreme Court last year, seeking immediate access for international journalists to the Gaza Strip.
On Oct. 23, the court held its first hearing in the case and gave Israeli authorities one month to develop a plan to grant access.
Since then, the court has granted several extensions to the Israeli authorities to develop their plan, but on Saturday, it set Jan. 4 as the final deadline.
“If the respondents (Israeli authorities) do not inform us of their position by that date, a decision on the request for a conditional order will be made on the basis of the material in the case file,” the court said.
The FPA welcomed the court’s latest directive.
“After two years of the state’s delay tactics, we are pleased that the court’s patience has finally run out,” the association said in a statement.
“We renew our call for the state of Israel to immediately grant journalists free and unfettered access to the Gaza Strip.
“And should the government continue to obstruct press freedoms, we hope that the Supreme Court will recognize and uphold those freedoms,” it added.
An AFP journalist serves on the FPA board.
Meanwhile, US Senator Lindsey Graham accused Hamas of rearming during a visit to Israel on Sunday, and charged that the Palestinian group was also consolidating power in Gaza.
“My impression is that Hamas is not disarming, they are rearming,” Graham said in a video statement issued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
“It’s my impression that they are trying to consolidate power (and) not give it up in Gaza.”
Graham’s remarks came a day after mediators the US, Qatar, Egypt, and Turkiye urged both sides in the Gaza war to uphold the ceasefire.
Hamas has called on the mediators and Washington to stop Israeli “violations” of the ceasefire.
On Friday, six people, including two children, were killed in an Israeli bombing of a school serving as a shelter for displaced people, according to the civil defense agency in Gaza.
